3 2 THE conflict in Israel has reinforced to us in Australia that strong leadership and teams are vital in business. The decision by our CEO Motti Levin to take the opportunity to close our factory in Israel for maintenance and upgrades, so we can accommodate higher inventories, also sent a strong message to all Haifa employees and their families at this difficult time – that they are valued above revenue and family comes first. This message is not lost on our team in Australia. Actions speak louder than words and our CEO has shown that the staff are the most important asset of the company. We have a strong local team in Australia and we are proud that the Haifa brand has been growing over its 40 years here, and particularly since the company strengthened its commitment with the establishment of an Australian subsidiary 15 years ago. While the factory was closed for a few days, it is now back in full operation and the team at Haifa is working together to ensure our products are on every shelf for growers across the globe. The drive and enthusiasm of the Haifa management team in Israel has ensured a return to full swing quickly and to work diligently through the adversity. Here in Australia, we are sitting safely, with fertiliser products arriving weekly and there is strong demand for our leading fertilisers. The introduction of the Haifa micronutrient fertiliser range also has further strengthened our product offering. Many growing enterprises already are using our class-leading iron EDDHA chelate, which features the highest orthoortho component in the Australian market. In the near future, we will be launching a range of biostimulant products, which are adding a new approach to growing and already have been well adopted in Europe. For further information about Haifa and our fertiliser products, please feel free to contact myself or our Australian team. Business as usual, with new products coming By Trevor Dennis Managing Director, Haifa Australia Never miss an edition of DownUnder SUBSCRIBE Email australia@haifa-group.com with the subject line Subscribe to DownUnder Sheri Robinson, Haifa Australia Southern Agronomist, with stocks of the company’s Multi-K potassium nitrate Quality rises at Coffs harbour conference HAIFA Australia highly values its long-term partnerships with key rural retailers throughout the country and was pleased to support Lindsay Rural’s recent major company conference held at Coffs Harbour in New South Wales. The value of Haifa to the Lindsay Rural business and through to its customers also was clear, with the team declaring “quality’’ to be the number one reference attached to the Haifa name in the industry. It was acknowledged that some Haifa product had remained in bags for three years in a customer’s shed and had not gone hard, which can occur with other fertilisers, while the company also was known for supplying the lowest sodium and chloride fertiliser options in the industry. Haifa Australia Managing Director Trevor Dennis said the company worked hard to tailor its fertiliser offer to retailer businesses and it was the only potassium nitrate supplier providing local support. Trevor said the importance of quality in all goods was once again coming to the fore amid the changing global market conditions of recent times and had remained a primary purpose for Haifa and its Australian team. Haifa can supply certificates of analysis Fertilizer Australia said customers should source products from its members, which have to comply with a code of conduct, or ensure they requested product labels, which assist traceability. To help guide industry best practice, Fertilizer Australia has developed the ‘National Code of Practice for Fertiliser Description and Labelling’ and this is available on its website. for its products to ensure growers know they are getting what they pay for, and full control over manufacturing ensures its fertilisers are free of any impurities. This quest for quality in the industry is being strongly supported by Fertilizer Australia, which is undertaking a product labelling and stewardship awareness program. The aim is to ensure growers are buying products that can be traced for food safety and which comply with Australian industry regulations. Fertilizer Australia has claimed product via new suppliers in recent times has not always met Australian standards and it has urged users to insist upon labelled fertiliser products. Some products also have arrived without certificates of analysis or safety data sheets. Lindsay Rural National Sales Manager George Piccirillo and Haifa Australia Managing Director Trevor Dennis sample raspberries on a field trip during Lindsay Rural’s recent company conference at Coffs Harbour. Haifa Australia Southern Agronomist Sheri Robinson (third from left), with some of the latest members to join the Lindsay Rural team, including (rear) Paul Truong, James Dunn and Warick Bellert and (front) Tan Nguyen, Marija Tromp and Pardeep Kumar, with Michael Singh.
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