Fancyleaf has been in existence for over 20 years and in that time has grown to be the largest supplier of Fancy Lettuce to Australia’s premier supermarket chain. The business has continually grown, with the present owners reinvesting the profits to maintain that growth.

When the business started only head lettuce was produced. However, as Fancy lettuce gained more acceptance it was readily apparent that a swicth to this crop would reap immediate benefits in volumes of production and crop turn around time. This neccessitated change and innovation, at a time when commercial hydroponics was in its’ infancy.

A solid staff base has helped the business growth and allowed the present owners to run the business at arms length, with an on site manager living on the farm, and a young and energetic filed manager employed. All labour saving systems are in place, mostlt developed during the growth phase. Water used is mostly captured run off water, ensuring little reliance on the mains supply.

However, after over 20 years developing the business, the present owners are offering it for sale as they feel they would like to explore life a bit further. The business is suitable for someone wishing to emigrate to Australia under the buisness migration plan, and will earn extra points as it is situated in what is called a “regional” area, although only 30 mins by car from Brisbanes CBD.

South African business migration would particularly suit this particular business, as most South Africans migrating to Australia have a farming or primary prouction background. If they wish to be hands on, that is no problem, the business can be expanded very quickly with some new energy, to bring in some cash income. Or run remotely by the staff in place now.

The business presently has a T/O in excess of $1M AUD and is offered on a freehold, WIWO basis for $2.7M. Full training and support for as long as it takes is included in the sale price.

This is in response to numerous requests which usually start with “how do I do this?”

Unfortunately Bill’s time is precious so he has taken the step of putting this assistance on a formal footing, customised for each client.

Within the last few weeks he has had a project in New Caledonia axed. It seems the local government heard about the farmers and investors that had approached Bill to set them up with a superior system designed to handle their often difficult conditions.

While they were here for training and to gain knowledge, the local government passed a new law to the effect that all new agricultural/horticultural developments on the islands must have approval. This is to protect the current local producers, who it must be said, are not producing the best possible quality.

So, that is unfortunate, these things do take time and energy to quote on, and Bill has not the spare time to waste on things that will not see a successful conclusion.

The expertise offered is particular to Fancy Lettuce, with some herb expertise thrown in. While we do produce excellent eating tomatoes, we are not tremendously well versed in this crop and will only consult for growers wishing to do what we do, that is produce a high quality eating tomato with old fashioned taste, which basically rules out supermarket sales.

Many Australians are adverse to paying for knowledge, which does not apply to people from other countries. Time is too precious to give away 20 years of success and innovation for nothing.

So, if you want to hit the ground running in the booming hydroponic business, give us a call, and come and see what we can do. The first hour is free.

There are many areas of Fancyleaf that have benefited from our desire to do it better, but only some of the more obvious are showcased here. The 3 mains areas are:

1. Simplicity Channel or Gully.
2. Simplicity Hydrodosing.
3. Simplicity Filterclean.

FANCY LETTUCE

We grow eleven varieties of lettuce for whole head production only, which are supplied to Woolworths . We do no salad mixes such as Mesclum (no, it is not Mescaline which we hear so commonly) as we believe there is too much processing of food already, as well AS the fact that if you produce these products, from a Quality Assurance point of view, you then become a high risk supplier, whereas we are a currently a low risk supplier.

Traditional Fancy Lettuce

SALANOVA LETTUCE

The most exciting thing to happen in lettuce production for years has been the introduction of Salanova varieties. These are generally a little smaller than traditional varieties, but usually quite a bit heavier. The extra weight is because these varieties have many, many more leaves than traditionals. The Salanova varieties are all patented, and the patent refers to 200 leaves on each plant. All these leaves grow from the one spot so it only requires a single cut to break the lettuce apart.

However the most exciting part is the taste. Salanova varieties have a lovely sweet taste with no traces of the bitterness you can get sometimes with other lettuce varieties. You really need to try them yourself. Woolworths are so impressed they have decided the traditional varieties are sooo yesterday and have asked their growers such as ourselves to switch entirely to salanova production.

ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT

Our chemical usage policy is quite firm as we produce under the WQA Standard (Woolworths Quality Assurance Standard). This means we use IPM (Integrated Pest Management) where consultants monitor all crops and advise us on what needs to be taken care off. Our first preference when any spraying is necessary is for soft, short lived or natural chemicals such a Pyrethrum. We also use beneficial predators, released on a regular basis.

Most chemical usage is avoided by growing more quickly than others, or investing in structures such as rain covers.

We are not organic and don’t claim to be but you can be assured our food is safe and has been produced with minimal, if any chemical usage, and in a very sustainable way (we use about 10-15% of the water required for ground crops). 90% of the water we use comes from rain runoff captured in our own dam, with very little used from the mains supply.