Sector Insights: Horticulture Edition

Summer has not been gentle. In WA’s Gascoyne, a late-January heatwave pushed Carnarvon to a record 47.9°C, and early estimates put crop losses close to $1m. On the other side of the country, Victoria and the Mallee felt record-breaking heat that caused further crop losses. When fruit arrives stressed, the packhouse becomes the pressure valve. Everything speeds up. Everything matters.

Across the calls and site visits this month, one theme keeps surfacing. Control. How do you keep control over temperature, handling time, traceability, power bills and the next stage of expansion?

This month’s key signals

Heat is reshaping receival.
Traceability has stepped up in NSW (effective from 12 February 2026).
Cold storage is shifting from “support” to “strategy”.
Expansion is happening with infrastructure first (power, cooling and sheds).
Cost watch: energy is now an operational constraint, not an overhead.

Heat is rewriting the early steps of the supply chain

Hot fruit arrives softer and more prone to bruising. It also sweats in bins and pallets. That makes covered receival, short runs into cold storage and fewer handling steps worth the effort. More than ever, the weather is dictating the need for more agile operations.

Heat pushes three levers that are easy to name and surprisingly hard to control consistently:

Time-to-Cool
Touches
Warm Exposure Time

Head-day controls are being standardised

These are not new ideas. The difference is that leading sites are formalising these processes, training their staff and measuring them on peak days.

Covered receival to reduce warm exposure variance
A defined truck-to-pre-cool SLA on heat days
Triage flows for stressed product to minimise touches
Airflow-designed staging to reduce sweating
Controlled transfer points on first pass to reduce damage

The industry is well aware of these principles, but heat is making inconsistent execution expensive.

Traceability rules tighten

In NSW, new food safety requirements for businesses that grow and primary process berries, leafy vegetables and melons came into effect on 12 February 2026. Requirements vary by business type and size. They include traceability steps and controls around inputs like water, compost and fertiliser. If you are unsure what applies, check the NSW Food Authority guidance for your operation.

Operational implications

Expect a higher baseline for records and traceability than last season
Expect closer scrutiny of where produce came from, where it went, and what inputs were used, especially water and soil amendments
Assign a single internal owner to map traceability steps end-to-end and close gaps

The paperwork may be frustrating. The cost of getting it wrong is higher.

Cold storage is doing more heavy lifting

Long-term cool rooms and controlled atmosphere storage can keep fruit in-market well beyond harvest. ABC Central West recently reported that apples can be stored for up to 12 months using controlled atmosphere to slow ripening.

Cold storage is becoming core infrastructure. It’s no longer an add-on but part of the commercial plan.

When does long-term storage pay?

Selling into better market windows, not simply selling later
Smoothing supply for customers without quality falling off a cliff
Avoiding forced selling during peak volume

The trade-off

Longer holds require improved standards on:

Room sealing and atmosphere control (O₂/CO₂)
Humidity management (shrink is profit leaking out as water)
Ethylene management and segregation
Energy management, especially as hot summers push peak load

Cold storage can protect value. It can also hide problems until they become expensive.

Expansion is happening with infrastructure front and centre

We are seeing businesses spread production and processing across regions to manage seasonal risk and supply pressure. A recent example is Zerella’s proposed move into the NT, where new sheds, cool rooms and power upgrades are part of the plan before planting begins.

This is the ideal approach. Organisations that have built crops first and cold chain later often pay twice.

Expansion traps we’re seeing (and fixing)

Underestimating power lead times
Cooling added too late, forcing rework and compromises
Constraint points designed into layout, then showing up as queues under peak load
Washdown, drainage and pest exclusion left for “later”
Compliance designed on paper instead of into the process

Infrastructure decisions should reflect both your current processes and future requirements. If they don’t, you risk locking in higher operating costs for years.

Reference Material

ABC News, “Record‑breaking heatwave leaves some flower farmers without Valentine’s Day blooms”, 12 Feb 2026.
NSW Food Authority, “New requirements for berries, leafy vegetables and melons”, effective 12 Feb 2026.

ABC News Central West, controlled‑atmosphere storage report (apples stored up to 12 months), Feb 2026.
ABC Rural, “Zerella Holdings proposes new seed potato farm near Katherine”, 2 Feb 2026.
ABC News, “Carnarvon growers face nearly $1m in crop losses after 47.9°C heatwave”, late Jan 2026.