australa sia
Mooloolah River Fisheries
Feature
Plenty more ďŹ sh in the sea...
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MOOLOOLAH RIVER FISHERIES
… and plenty more bugs in the bay. For individuals and restaurateurs there is only one place on the Sunshine Coast to get them – Mooloolah River Fisheries in Mooloolaba. In its 10-year history, the company has taken integrated business to a whole new level for suppliers and customers alike. By Jane McCallion
While the facility was constructed according to Mooloolah River Fisheries’ specifications it was not only the company’s needs that were taken into account in its design. “We decided to build something that would not just be a good workable facility for us, but for the local industry too, the idea being that not only could we purchase the product off all the boats, we could also service the boats in the same way with moorings, fuel, packaging, oils, maintenance – anything to do with running a vessel. We bought in all those things, which weren’t in the port at all previously, to make it easy on the boats so they didn’t have to go up the road to get a lot of stock,” explains Pinzone. The company also put in an ice-making plant producing roughly 25 tonnes of ice a day, which is used to ice down the fresh product, as well as a 400 tonne freezer storage facility. When the complex was built it also included a small retail area so that people from the local area could come and buy seafood virtually fresh off the boat. Since then, it has grown to become a major retail outlet, employing 40 people full time to serve the ever growing number of people drawn in by Mooloolaba Fish Market’s reputation for fresh, quality local produce. “It’s a big part of the business, because we’re always buying fresh local product anywhere we can all along the eastern Queensland seaboard,” says Pinzone. “We get in large volumes of barramundi and snapper, we sell a lot of king prawns and Moreton Bay bugs; what’s on offer in the retail section goes right through the line of quality Queensland produce.” Indeed there are up to 20 different types of fish on sale at a time in the outlet without including crustaceans, prawns or other seafood. If people don’t feel like taking their fish back home to cook, Mooloolah River Fisheries has that covered too. For
Focus Food & Agriculture
T
he phrase ‘one-stop-shop’ has become something of a cliché – applied to such a broad range of companies offering varying degrees of complete service; it has become difficult to define what it really means. However, if there is one example of a business that truly embodies the sentiment of that saying, it is Mooloolah River Fisheries. The complex run by the company includes virtually every aspect of the seafood supply chain, from reeling the fish in at sea to serving up a fully prepared restaurant meal. Tony Pinzone, a fisherman by trade, established the fishery in June 2002. With an unsurpassed knowledge of the seafood industry and a clear head for business, he has been able to turn Mooloolaba into what it is today. “I fished in Victoria with my father and brothers since before I even left school,” he says. “Then 35 years ago, I came to Queensland and built my own prawn trawlers, which I ran until about 10 years ago. The facilities in Mooloolaba were very poor at that stage and we saw there was an opening to be able to put a one-stop-shop for the seafood and fishing industries in the port. “We decided to start looking into acquiring the block of land, which took about three years. We then drew up plans for the complex ourselves and set up the factory how we wanted and situated the marina and the big unloading wharf how we wanted.”
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MOOLOOLAH RIVER FISHERIES
Mooloolah River Fisheries is the largest volume wholesaler of this product on the East Coast of Australia, mostly sold through our wholesale division a traditional seaside experience, there is a fish and chip shop at ground level. Alternatively, customers can opt for a sit down dining experience in the 200-seater first floor restaurant overlooking the river, from where they can see fishing industry at work. “Mooloolah River Fisheries main product division is the famous Mooloolaba King Prawn. Mooloolah River Fisheries is the largest volume wholesaler of this product on the East Coast of Australia, mostly sold through our wholesale division,” Pinzone adds. The most recent string added to the company’s bow is a large distribution point, which distributes seafood to big hotel chains, major restaurants and smaller seafood outlets along the Sunshine Coast. This aspect of the business, which is only six months old, is expected to be a major contributor to Mooloolah River Fisheries’ turnover within the 4
next 12 months. However, this diversification is also a ‘from the ashes’ story. “The tuna industry was quite big when we started the business back in 2002 and we acquired quite a few boats,” explains Pinzone. “We also had a tuna packhouse: we were unloading and preparing the tuna and packing it up to be sent over to Japan, Sydney and all over Australia. Since then, the tuna industry has virtually gone legs up and there are almost no tuna boats in Mooloolaba.” Rather than mothball the facility, the decision was taken instead to repurpose it into a distribution point. “We estimate that the distribution market on the Sunshine Coast is worth approximately A$20,000,000 and we want a share of that,” says Pinzone. “All we had to do was change the packhouse to be a distribution point instead, so we just upgraded the refrigeration in there, bought some scales, bought the trucks
and hired the staff.” Hiring the right staff has been key to successfully launching the delivery business. The company took on experienced fieldsales reps to promote this new service to potential customers around the area and quickly build up a client base. Subsequently, Mooloolah River Fisheries has been approached by a number of other experienced sales people who are excited by the direction the business is taking. Considering the distribution point was a completely new business area for the company, the level of investment required to get it up and running was remarkably low – only A$250,000. “Because we already had the processing plant and we own the complex, so we’re not paying rent or anything, the cost of doing this was cheaper than it would otherwise have been,” explains Pinzone. “And given what we think it will produce in 12-18 months, we feel it was a very reasonable expenditure.” This adaptability and capacity to see new trends and opportunities will doubtless be the key to Mooloolah River Fisheries’ future success. The fishing industry in the Sunshine Coast area is coming under increasing pressure from environmental restrictions, such as green zones, which prohibit commercial fishing. “There’s a lot of talk at the moment, especially about closing off the Coral Sea completely. However, until things actually start happening, it’s hard to see which way to go,” Pinzone says. “But we have changed direction two or three before in the past ten years and we have always come through, so we know we can do it again.”
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Lot 201 Parkyn Parade Mooloolaba QLD 4557 Australia Tel: 07 5452 4600 Fax: 07 5452 4699 Email: seafood@mooloolahfish.com.au
www.mooloolahfish.com.au