A message from Avocados Australia’s New Chair

Hi Everyone,

I am proud to have this opportunity to address you all as the new Chair of Avocados Australia Limited.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a North Queensland Avocado grower. My wife Louise and I own Lakeshore Pty Ltd and have farms in Kairi and Walkamin in North Queensland. We also own and operate a large commercial packing facility called Pack Center NQ Pty Ltd and are shareholders of Green Skin Avocados Pty Ltd. Like our previous chair, Brad Rodgers, I too am excited about the future of the Australian avocado industry. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Brad for his years of service and look forward to continuing to work with him in his continued role as a Western Australia Director.

On Wednesday 23 October I chaired my first Avocados Australia Board Meeting and the Board welcomed two new directors, Lawrence Masasso (the second director for the North Queensland region) and Duncan Wells (the second director for Western Australia). Lawrence and Duncan will add their valuable experience and expertise and I welcome their input into our decision making moving forward.

As Chair of Avocados Australia I am trying to hit the ground running, contributing to our efforts to open new markets. I am currently in China now involved in high level meetings that will bring our industry closer to accessing the Chinese market. I want you all to know that I am determined to deliver results for the industry, to help find new pathways for our wonderful high quality avocados and grow demand, both domestically and overseas.

Avocados Australia’s latest “Facts at a Glance 2023-24 Report” is now available. The avocado industry facts and figures it contains are an essential resource for anyone looking to understand the Australian avocado industry trends to June 2024. In order to plan for the future, it is important to know where we are, and where we have been. I recommend that you take a look at its valuable insights.

Avocados Australia’s purpose is to support Australian avocado growers in becoming world leading sustainable producers. To achieve this we need sustainable, profitable farm gate prices and Avocados Australia’s four industry priorities – as outlined in our Strategic Plan for 2022 – 2026 – were developed with this in mind.

I value the contribution that all of our stakeholders make to our industry as you all have a part to play in ensuring that our industry has a positive future. I particularly call upon our government stakeholders to continue to support our industry in pursuit of our goals, particularly in increasing exports and in opening new markets.

I look forward to working with my fellow Avocados Australia Board members and Avocados Australia’s staff in doing all that we can to support growers and the industry.

I wish you all the best for the rest of the year.

Sincerely,

Matt Kleyn
Chair
Avocados Australia

This article is part of the 4 November 2024 issue of Avocados Australia’s enewsletter – Guacamole.

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