5 minute read
GROW YOUR HORTICULTURE BUSINESS WITH BIO GRO
By Michael Patten
A Brief History
Bio Gro is a family-owned business founded by the late Hans Van Schaik and wife Marjan over four decades ago. The business was built on innovation with Hans pioneering the development of pine bark based growing media. He was able to change the long-held perception of using mountain loam in the nursery industry, and after much experimentation, the tide slowly turned to a point now where it is pretty much the only media used in commercially grown crops. Today, the business is led by Managing Director, Stephen Van Schaik and continues to develop and refine the processes that makes our pine bark based growing media the most sought after in Australia.
Our Sites
Our principal composting and manufacturing facility is situated in the middle of the pine plantations of Mount Gambier on 110 acres with an operating capacity in excess of 500,000 tonnes per annum. The site allows us to recover and source material to consistently produce quality products.
We have additional operations in Mount Gambier (South Australia) and Dandenong South (Victoria). The Mount Gambier site contains two fully automated packaging plants with a capacity of producing in excess of 8 million bags per annum. Our operation in Dandenong South is a multi-purpose site which acts in part as a custom blend growing media distribution centre. The facility also operates our green organic receival and processing facility.
Wandilo, South Australia
Why choose Bio Gro?
Our long-standing relationships with suppliers around the world as well as locally, helps us to maintain a steady supply chain of controlled-release fertilisers and raw materials to supply the industry during this challenging time.
Raelene, Director/Production Manager Faceys Nursery
With a resource base in excess of 140,000 tonnes of radiata pine bark we are well placed to support the current and future demands from the nursery and garden industry with premium quality Growing Media, Mulches and Composts.
Bio Gro’s expertise lies in creating custom blends and specialist growing media. We supply custom blends to some of the largest nurseries in Australia, particularly in Victoria and South Australia. We work with landscape designers to develop specialist mixes for green walls, rooftop gardens (as pictured opposite top), planter boxes for shopping complexes, and wicking mixes for the rapidly growing wicking bed market. Our laboratory team work closely with our customers to answer any questions or concerns that may arise and can ‘tweak’ a mix at any stage to suit their requirements.
From a delivery perspective, we have an extensive fleet of vehicles in Victoria and South Australia to ensure our customers’ products get to them when needed. No matter what product and profile they are looking for, we find the right solutions to meet customer needs.
The fact that Bio Gro is a market leader within the Australian horticulture industry is not by chance. We understand that a customers’ success heavily depends on the reliability of their products. Therefore, we place the highest possible demands on our products in terms of quality, performance, and consistency.
All loads of growing media being sent to our customers undergo a series of laboratory testing, so they know what is being delivered is exactly what they and their plants require to achieve the best results possible. To achieve the perfect balance of AFP (air filled porosity), water holding capacity, pH, nitrate, and fertilisers, a re-wetting agent and starter fertiliser are included. The ratios are decided on specific crop requirements and pot sizes being used to ensure all plants get off to a rapid and healthy start. All mixes are tested, and a retention sample is kept on-site for future reference checking.
Our Team
Our team has grown to over 130 employees who manufacture quality products that are fit for purpose across a range of industries, day in day out. We are continually undertaking more Research and Development activity including field trials, to create the greatest value from our finished products and empowering our loyal staff to create more opportunities in markets we know are critical to a sustainable future.
We pride ourselves on the ongoing development of quality products with a team of experts exploring product development opportunities to improve the health of soils with long term sustainable outcomes.
The Bio Gro team
What’s next?
Our operations will soon include a new Victorian processing facility having secured funding from Sustainability Victoria to encourage increased market development across agriculture, horticulture and the urban amenity markets. This will become one of the largest processing facilities in Australia and create jobs for more than 40 new employees to focus on products for soil and plant health.
Bio Gro is investing in the state, this industry, and our customers now and into the future, talk to us about how you can become a part of our journey!
