AUSTRALIAN ALMOND
CONFERENCE
Hall of Fame for John Bird
THE success of Australia ’ s almond industry is recognised worldwide – and the late John Bird played a key role in establishing that reputation . John ’ s legacy was honoured at the Australian Almond Conference Gala Dinner when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame , posthumously . John ’ s proud family members were in attendance to accept the honour on his behalf . Through board scale orchard expansion , John helped take a thriving boutique industry and set it on a path to international prominence supplying more than 50 export markets . His big picture mindset and visionary developments underpinned a business philosophy that had a profound impact on the trajectory of the Australian almond industry . During his time Australian almond production increased from about 4,000 tonnes annually at the turn of the century to about 80,000 tonnes , making almonds Australia ’ s most valuable horticultural export commodity . John ’ s vision for an internationally competitive Australian almond industry together with his financial , managerial and trading skills , was a key driver behind Australia becoming the second largest almond industry in the world . John started in the nut trade in 1986 as a Financial Controller with Jorgenson Waring Australia . Trading in nuts and dried fruits , Jorgenson Waring sourced product from numerous countries and while John knew little about nuts and dried fruit at that time , he excelled in the trading environment . Following his promotion to Managing Director of Jorgenson Waring Australia in 1988 , annual sales of the company grew to
$ 110 million . While homegrown almond product was limited initially , through a joint marketing arrangement with Riverland Almonds and Select Harvests under the Allinga brand , the volume of Australian almonds traded increased substantially , highlighting the potential for significant growth of almond production in this country . Up until the late 1980s South Australia had been the centre of the Australian Almond Industry but as the first Victorian orchards established in the 1970s and ’ 80s reached maturity , the worth of the Sunraysia region for almonds was proven . Almond production in this region was pioneered by the Blazey family , founders of Defender Farms . Following a company restructure and name change to Select Harvests Limited , new almond projects were established . Select Harvests soon became the largest almond producer in the country , and there was more to come . John was appointed CEO of Select Harvests in 1998 and soon after implemented a new business model
18 In A Nutshell - Summer 2022 Vol 23 Issue 4