Pulp Fiction: The juicy tale of the Australian citrus industry Matt Brennan Citrus has always allowed

humankind to explore their limits, whether it is used as an anti-scurvy agent from the late 18th Century, right up until today when beer drinkers will be willing to pay a maximum of $10 for a bottle of corona as long as there is a lemon wedge dangling in it. The citrus industry in Australia is presently valued at over $190 million and this is quite impressive given that only 0.003% of Australias landscape is used to produce this zesty little crop. The growth of the industry however has come at a heavy price and until now the industry has been able to gently sweep it aside in a similar fashion to the US Debt Crisis. The bitter reality is that the industry has been surviving off government handouts since 1979 all the way up to 2011 where the government subsidised between 40 100% of all export costs along with other stimulus measures. Handouts are still happening today but they are now predominantly structured as a government cocontribution scheme to ensure some accountability with expenditure. The Chief Executive of Citrus Australia genuinely laments the demise of oranges as a half time staple and partially blames this for the downfall of citrus: What they (youth) are doing now is having sports drinks instead. Other hurdles include continuous droughts in agricultural zones (with severe flooding elsewhere), the Australian dollar being well above historical averages, intense competition from Peru, Chile & South Africa and being out marketed and outperformed by significantly cheaper imported concentrate juices. Exporting concentrates is an effective means for international companies to flood the citrus market, as they are not as exposed to the strict quarantine guidelines that fresh products endure in Australia. So after having money intravenously pumped into its veins for the past 30 years, the citrus industry is on the brink of collapse. After monitoring the General Motors (Holden) situation and applying a few macroeconomic principles, it is self-evident that a protectionist strategy (the motor vehicle manufacturing industry in Australia has been sticky taped together with government funding for over 70 years) does not work in the long term. Unlike OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) who control over 53% of the worlds oil supply, the citrus industry does not have the luxury of cutting off supply to artificially raise prices (as Australia makes up 1% of total world production and specialises in the fresh varieties of citrus which are difficult to store.) But that is exactly what they are doing. In 2012, 1500 hectares of citrus trees were uprooted (this is the equivalent of 50,000 tonnes of citrus and the entire West Australian output) along with 2-3% of annual production being dumped every year. This practise of citrus dumping is like hoisting a choke chain on Bambi, especially after witnessing the footage of the devastation that typhoon Haiyan caused in the Philippines, where survivors are so desperately seeking food and water (an orange typically contains at least 75% water and is a cleaner source than most of the available drinking water.)

What can be done? Citrus Australia has set up a committee to direct feedback (a complaints department) from regional suppliers. They have also set up another committee to strategically drive a 5 year plan. This plan is easily accessible and surprisingly direct in its assessment of the dire situation, with one interesting initiative being that exports to Korea (the southern part) will total $15 million within 5 years, at present; the balance is negligible.

Prime time: The ads which helped Revolutionise Australian food consumption. Source: Google Images

There have been many recent successful food related campaigns from West Australian potatoes, to bananas and former AFL player Sam Kekovichs controversial Australia Day advertisements which have seen the average consumption of cattle rise to 32.5kg per person each year. Australia has so utterly got behind its cattle production that cattle now outnumber Australians by over 5 million. The cattle industry in Australia is thriving with Australia being the 3rd largest exporter in the world (Brazil is second and India is the leading exporter of their sacred animal.) Cattle production in Australia takes up 336 million hectares or 43.4% of Australias landmass. If much of Citrus Australias problems stem from poor marketing, should Lebron James or Lance Franklin be endorsed to suck on an orange at the halftime break? Whilst the citrus industry is a long way behind the beef industry in terms of size, influence and being on the brink of collapse, lets hope that in the short term at least one of the committees formed manages to halt the barbaric practise of citrus dumping.