Dr Ian Fairnie introducing Geraldton Fisherman's Coop CEO Matt Rutter
If you were there, you already know that the trip to the Brolos Processing facility at Rous Head last Tuesday, and the presentation by CEO Matt Rutter, was a great experience.
For those that weren’t there, I tell you the tale and show you a photo of lobster tails being prepared for the US market.
Lobster Tails being prepared for the US market
The Geraldton Fisherman’s Cooperative (GFC) began in 1950 and exporting lobster tails to the US was the main market for the business.
GFC is now the largest fishery exporter in the world and owns 70% of the export market. It has a larger export market share than the rest of Australia and New Zealand combined! It was the first fishery in the world to be certified as sustainable by the WWF.
It is a true Cooperative, owned by fishers, who also elect six of the eight Board positions.
It fishes for Western Rock Lobsters, which are unique to WA, along 1000km of coast line between Albany and Shark Bay. GFC currently processes 30-34 tonne/day.
Western Rock Lobsters are prized by Chinese diners - and are referred to as 龙虾 or ”lóngxiā", meaning Dragon Shrimp. Their red colour, especially at Chinese New Year, is regarded as very auspicious. Dragons are gods in Chinese folklore and have powers over the sky and the sea.
The year 2020 was the opposite of auspicious for GFC. China shutdown on 24 January because of Covid 19, and when the country reopened in March there were no flights from Australia to the GFC live lobster bonded warehouse in Guangzhou, for the market that Matt Rutter had developed when he was head of Marketing for GFC. Then in August the Chinese government stopped issuing annual import licences, and in October shipments to China were suspended overnight, literally. Oh, did I mention the CFO died of a heart attack in his office?
“May you live in interesting times” is a well known Chinese curse, and Matt must have wondered who cast the spell on him. It didn’t last long after Matt was appointed CEO.
He followed Einstein’s famous quote - in every crisis lies opportunity, and Matt used 2021 to begin modernising the company while preserving its history as a very successful multigenerational cooperative. The processing plant at Rous Head was modernised and expanded, and many former labour intensive tasks were automated.
Importantly, the focus remains on a producing a premium product while diversifying its markets. SE Asia has become more important, with the live export market growing quickly in Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia.
What’s the plan for when China begins importing Western Rock Lobsters again? Matt said there were two options being “gamed” and both emphasise continuing diversification of its export market without compromising on premium branding and price.
So that’s my tale. As well as seeing over a very important industry to WA, we also got to listen to Matt Rutter, a very successful and reflective CEO, which was a great bonus.
Great interest in a very informative presentation from CEO Matt Rutter