Australia’s largest canned vegetable producer is selling Thai corn in supermarkets

Australia’s largest canned vegetable producer has started importing corn from Thailand again due to a domestic shortage.

Two years on from dealing with supply shortages caused by natural disasters, Simplot Australia — which owns brands including Edgell — is grappling with a similar situation.

“Drought and bushfires led to corn shortages in 2021. This was unfortunately followed by widespread floods across eastern Australia and the Riverina region in 2022, again resulting in supply challenges,” the company said in a statement.

“Fresh vegetables from our Australian farming community will always be our first choice.

“Our commitment to sourcing Australian vegetables first means we aim to use homegrown produce wherever possible.

“Of course, if there simply isn’t enough to go around, we might need to look further afield.”

Labels will indicate source

Consumers are being alerted to the change on Coles’ and Woolworths’ website.

A message informed readers that due to a shortage of Australian corn, some Edgell products were being sourced both from “trusted and reputable” farmers overseas in Thailand, and other Australian growers.

The cans are labelled with either “product of Thailand” or “Australian-grown”.

Simplot Australia is owned by US-based J.R. Simplot Company.

In 1995, it acquired Edgell and other Australian food brands Birds Eye, Leggo’s and Chiko.

The majority of Edgell products are made in Simplot’s at Bathurst, NSW, by a team of over 200 people.

Growers for Simplot were contacted about the shortage but declined to comment.

At nearby Cowra, vegetable, grain and sheep farmer Ed Fagan said last year’s floods had a major impact on food production.

“I’m not surprised they need to go and get processed corn out of Thailand,” Mr Fagan said.

“It didn’t matter whether it was sweet corn or maize [for livestock] or whether it was other summer cropping — cotton [for] example — they all just got wiped out.”

Mr Fagan, who is also a Lachlan Valley Water board member, said corn crops were either at the beginning of the growing cycle or just about to be planted when the floods hit.

“It took out crops that were already growing, plus it delayed planting of a second crop,” he said.

“Not only did that happen on the Lachlan [Valley], but it also happened on the Macquarie Valley and it also happened down in the Riverina on the Murrumbidgee and the Murray and the Goulburn, so it impacted a very large area.”

Investment gives farmer hope

However, with Australian production ramping up, Simplot remained positive.

“We kicked off our early corn processing for the 2023 season last weekend and so far, we’re confident our Australian supply is on track,” the company said.

Simplot is currently undertaking a $65 million upgrade to its Bathurst manufacturing facility and a $40 million acquisition of farming land in the Central West region of NSW.

The works are anticipated to be completed this year.

Mr Fagan said the investment provided confidence to the area’s irrigated agriculture industry.

“They’re not going to invest the sort of money that they’re investing over there for nothing,” he said.

“They’ve bought a few properties down near Forbes, and they already own one here at Cowra and at Bathurst.

“We know that there’s going to be a bit of action at Bathurst, which is going to be good.”

Simplot calls itself the last Australian-grown frozen and shelf-stable vegetable provider of any scale in Australia.

It has five Australian manufacturing sites, employs almost 2,000 staff, and sources 400,000 tonnes of Australian-grown vegetables every year.