Regenerative agriculture reduces fuel and fertiliser bill for Mulgowie
24 February 2025
Connecting Australian growers to the latest global agtech trends and advances
24 February 2025
By Sandra Godwin
For more than six decades, the Schreurs family has cultivated excellence in vegetable production through their award-winning enterprise, Schreurs & Sons.
With the third generation, cousins Chris and Adam, at the helm, and a commitment to continuous improvement and safe, quality produce, the business is implementing a benchmarking program that will enhance their own operations as well as benefiting other vegetable, and onion growers.
The Schreurs farm 600ha across properties at Tarwin and Devon Meadows, southeast of Melbourne.
They produce celery, leeks and baby leaf vegetables – including spinach, rocket and snow pea tendrils – year round, which they supply to wholesale markets and supermarkets across Australia and overseas.
A growing legacy
Joe and son Theo Schreurs.
Their story began when Joe and Johanna Schreurs emigrated from the Netherlands to Australia in the late 1950s and began growing vegetables – including celery and their popular Dutch carrots – on a rented block at Dingley, in 1963.
They established the business J Schreurs & Sons after buying their first farm at Clyde, and over the years expanded to sites at Devon Meadows and Cora Lynn.
Grandson Chris had been working in finance in Singapore in 2012 when Adam phoned to ask if he was interested in buying the business with him and another cousin, Ben. Older members of the family wanted to retire and sell the land which had become hemmed in over the years by urban sprawl.
The change in ownership marked the beginning of a significant transformation for the business, which was rebranded Schreurs & Sons. The cousins also embarked on an ambitious relocation plan in 2014, acquiring 65ha at Middle Tarwin, in South Gippsland.
The trio harvested their first celery crop from the land in 2015 and haven’t looked back, with about 500ha now in production and construction of a new high-tech production facility underway at Devon Meadows.
Adam manages field operations on the farms and Chris looks after the commercial side of the business. Ben left the partnership in 2018.
“In the beginning, the biggest challenge was getting my head around the dynamics of the market and how to create opportunities,” Chris Schreurs said.
“We changed the direction of the business a bit. We looked at export and convenience, and we’ve tried to diversify our products and our client base.”
About 15 percent of their celery production is exported by air and sea freight to Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the Middle East.
Their efforts were publicly acknowledged when Adam won the AUSVEG Environmental Award and the business was judged The Weekly Times Horticulture Farmer of the Year in 2015.
The accolades were followed in 2016 by the AUSVEG Victoria Innovative Marketing Award and the Agribusiness Award at the Governor of Victoria Export Awards, and AUSVEG Victoria Grower of the Year in 2023.
The fourth generation is already making its mark, with Adam’s son Lachlan Schreurs, taking out the 2024 AUSVEG Victoria Young Grower of the Year title.
Embracing benchmarking
Workers harvest celery at Schreurs & Sons’ Tarwin farm, south east of Melbourne
Recognising the need for continuous improvement and the value of industry insights, the Schreurs team decided to take part in the Level Up Hort benchmarking project last year.
Chris said they had worked with consultants RMCG on previous Hort Innovation-funded projects and benchmarking was a familiar concept from his time overseas in financial services.
“That’s a really good thing for business, to have a look at where your position is against your peers,” he said.
“It also opens up your way of thinking. You might not get that out of just looking at it yourself or looking at it with your accountant, because sometimes you’re seeing the same figures and you’re not really seeing anything different.”
The Schreurs took a collaborative approach, bringing RMCG consultant Lauren Jones, who had studied accounting at university, into meetings with their accountant.
“It was a very open and honest discussion on how we did things and how we structure our business, and why we do this this way and that way,” he said.
“That also gave Lauren a good perspective of how we run our business, and then gave us a bit more detail around how we actually performed…that was highly valuable for us.”
Chris said he was looking forward to the release of the second year’s results after the first report contained several surprises.
“There are some elements there that we’re doing well in, and others that maybe we need to take a sharper look at,” he said.
“Overall, I was quite pleased at where we fell in that ranking and confident that we’re heading in the right direction. Yet, there’s always places to improve and to discuss further, so I thought it was very valuable.”
As a high-investing company over the past 11 years, Schreurs & Sons is committed to a strategy of continuous improvement and innovation that ensures it remains competitive and profitable. It’s a theme that extends beyond their own farms
Chris said the broader industry would benefit from having access to collective data from the Level Up Hort benchmarking to support policy, advocacy and help secure vital funding for research and development into new technology and consumer behaviour.
He encouraged other growers to consider joining the project, with one caveat: that they start with an open mind ready to embrace both positive and challenging results.
“If you have a closed mindset going into this, you might struggle with the results and seeing where you’re at,” he said.
“You’ve got to be prepared for bad news as well as good news, and be open to change.”
What is Level Up Hort?
A five-year initiative fully funded through Hort Innovation, the Level Up Hort program provides specialised business reviews with a business consultant from experienced project partners Planfarm or RMCG, valued at up to $10,000 per year.
It is open to vegetable and onion growers who receive two annual reports – a full business analysis and a benchmarking report, both private and confidential, comparing their figures against others. Each year the participant data is de-identified, aggregated and reported on a per hectare basis or as ratios for a national report which completely anonymises growers.
The project team uses targets for key financial ratios enabling consultants to help businesses set internal goals and benchmark against themselves as well as the whole industry. These targets highlight priority areas to address within the business and drive continual improvement year on year.