Nutrano Produce Group has introduced a new Integrated Category structure across its sales and marketing operations, to better align the business with industry trends, customer needs and manage recent acquisitions.
The company said in a statement the new structure will give Nutrano a clearer focus on driving its core strategic categories of bananas, citrus, mangoes, berries, avocados, grapes and soft produce.
Nutrano managing director and CEO, Steven Chaur, said the new Integrated Category structure, which was launched this week across the company, would improve operational effectiveness, sales and operations communications and brand marketing focus within the company. Previously, the business operated in two discrete Farming and Trading business units, which lead to many opportunities being missed in the market.
“Nutrano has a category portfolio targeting premium seasonal fruits and soft produce in consumer growth categories such as citrus, avocados, berries and mangoes, with a significant part of our business in banana supply and ripening to major supermarkets,” Chaur said.
“Our focus is on expanding our farming profile in these core product categories and to ensure we can grow customer volumes, seasonal supply and varietal advantages. With an integrated direct supply model from farm to customers, the Category structure accelerates our ability to work closer with major customers as we are not an intermediary wholesaler.
“Moving away from the business unit approach will deliver stronger accountability for category growth, more effective seasonal customer activation and a strategic approach by Category for our orchard management and future farm acquisitions.”
According to Nutrano, under the new Integrated Category structure, each core category will be led by a dedicated category general manager, who will oversee and lead the category sales teams, marketing activities and range decisions, including harvest planning, global sourcing and customer marketing activities.
The four category general managers are:
• Chaise Pensini, Bananas and Berries
• Simon Campbell, Citrus and Grapes
• Tony Walsh, Avocados and Mangoes
• Dan De Luca, Produce (Soft and Hard)
Nutrano also announced each of the category general managers will report to one of two executive general managers, who will provide oversight on business development, customer strategy and ensure collaboration of the business resources at the highest level.
The two executive general managers, reporting to the managing director, are:
• Chaise Pensini, Bananas and Berries
• Brett Jackson, Citrus/Grapes, Produce and Avocados/Mangoes
“Vertical integration back to farm is becoming critical for success in our industry and it is a key platform on which Nutrano is developing its competitive advantage. We aim to grow everything we sell to our customers, so we have been active in acquiring premium farming assets across Australia to ensure we can align with customer volume demands, extend seasonality and exceed quality requirements, both domestically and internationally. It’s an important step in becoming one of Australia’s leading growers and suppliers of world class fresh produce,” Chaur said.
