Originally, Boomaroo Nurseries was just a vegetable seedling producer. The company was established by brothers Eric, Theo and Michael Jacometti 35 years ago and currently supplies around 300 million vegetable seedlings to growers across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. They are now considered to be one of the largest vegetable seedling suppliers in Australia. When they decided to build a new greenhouse for the vegetable seedlings production ten years ago, their journey of entering the greenlife market and building a new business took off.
Richard Herzina and Andrew Burgess (Photo credit: Groundswell Journal.)
First ornamentals in old greenhouse
Their first ornamental plants were grown in the old vegetable seedling nursery. "As the costs of Australian labour started to increase, owners Eric and Theo decided to mechanize the vegetable seedling business", explains Andrew Burgess, General Manager of Greenlife for Boomaroo Nurseries. "They traveled to the Netherlands to look at the possibilities and decided to basically build a completely new glasshouse with state of the art mechanization. So, the old vegetable seedling nursery was left empty, which offered them the opportunity to expand their business. They decided to add ornamentals and established Boomaroo Greenlife."
Entering green life - not an easy task
According to Burgess, it was not an easy task to enter the greenlife industry. "In contrast to our established name in the vegetable seedlings industry, the marketplace did not know what Boomaroo Greenlife stood for. We were the new kid on the block." So, in order to become more known and recognizable, the company decided to create an identity and came up with the brand BOOM. The brand is built around three potted ranges: BOOM a burst of colour (for the flowering range), a burst of life (for the decorative foliage range), and a burst of flavour (edible range). "Now, most of our product can be ranged under the one brand, creating an identity and, in turn, recognition for the customer." Currently, the BOOM branded products are being distributed through Bunnings, a retailer that has an estimated 60 percent share of the ornamental market in Australia.
Click here for more information about the brand BOOM.
Over time, as the demand for Boomaroo's plants increased, they also decided to take a closer look at their cultivation processes of the ornamental plants. "We thought that automation might unlock the sales." In 2014, they decided to demolish the old greenhouses and invest millions of dollars in building a new modern greenhouse. The 3.5 million dollar redevelopment was finished the end of 2015, and included the establishment of several new outdoor growing areas, featuring netting and overhead irrigation, as well as a one-hectare growing area under a fully automated retractable roof. The greenhouse was designed and built by Australian manufacturer Apex Greenhouses, and for the mechanization and pot handling, they worked closely with Visser from the Netherlands who installed and commissioned all the equipment.
Revenues doubled
Even though entering the green life sector entailed many challenges, they made the right decision and their investment has enabled the business to grow very strongly. The combination of introducing the BOOM brand and establishing a modern greenhouse with many automation techniques boosted their sales. "Over the last four years, our revenues doubled."
New Head Grower
According to Burgess, there are still many opportunities in the Australian market. "Housing is a major driver of our economy and the creation of urban greenspaces in our cities is a key component of designing and building liveable spaces."
And as their business is growing, they have recently appointed a new head grower to the Greenlife business. "We are very excited to appoint Dutchman Koen Eidhof as head grower of Boomaroo Greenlife. Koen will lead our growing team and be involved not only in growing the product but new product development and trials and research. He used to be the production manager for chrysanthemums at Beekenkamp in Ethiopia. In March, he will move with his wife and three daughters from Ethiopia to Australia."
"Our business is built around people and as our business has grown and expanded we have had to work hard to get the right people in the right roles to take our business to the next level. We have made lots of changes recently and now have a team in place to continue to unlock opportunities and build our business for the future."
For more information
Boomaroo Nurseries Pty Ltd
Andrew Burgess
General Manager - Greenlife
105 St. Andrews Drive, Lara. Vic 3212
T: (03) 52 82 2199
Fax: (03) 52 82 3969
Email: andrew@boomaroo.com
www.boomaroo.com