It may be one of Western Australia’s most iconic and, at 80 years old, longest-lived food brands, but premier honey maker Wescobee Ltd is not immune from the changing face of retailing.
It may be one of Western Australia’s most iconic and, at 80 years old, longest-lived food brands, but premier honey maker Wescobee Ltd is not immune from the changing face of retailing.
Wescobee chief executive officer Eduard Planken said the anniversary was a remarkable achievement for the small, single commodity state-based company, particularly in the face of increased competition and super-market industry rationalisation in recent years.
“The changes in regulatory requirements and the structure of the supermarket industry has had a tremendous impact, particularly on unique small WA companies,” Mr Planken told WA Business News.
“With the supermarket industry now boned down to two major players, the conditions of trading are getting more and more difficult unless you’re a big player.”
Wescobee, which began as the Honey Pool of WA in 1926, is an unlisted public company owned by 155 beekeeper shareholder/ suppliers and holds around 80 per cent of WA’s retail honey market.
The company packs an average of 1,500 tonnes of honey a year at its Bayswater warehouse. Of this, 60 per cent is supplied to the local retail market, with the remaining 40 per cent exported to more than 21 countries around the world.
Key markets include South-East Asia, China, and the Middle East.
The company currently employs 15 staff and has an annual turnover of more than $8 million.
But the proliferation of imports during the mid-1990s, and the increasing popularity of private label and house brand honey products in recent years, have presented major competitive challenges for the company.
Mr Planken said that, despite industry pressures and a rapidly changing marketplace, the company had endured by building a highly recognised and trusted brand through its delivery of unique, high-quality local honey products.
“The brand is well recognised in WA, and we support the quality of the brand. Our products are safe, organically certified, halal certified…and the consumer is confident they are getting 100 per cent pure quality,” he said.
Mr Planken said he was committed to growing the company over the next 12 months, including the aggressive pursuit of additional export markets.
Other growth strategies could involve acquiring or joining with other businesses to increase their market coverage, and diversifying the product range to include honey-based medical products.
Wescobee recently launched a small range of therapeutic products marketed under the brand B-Naturals, utilising honey derived from WA’s unique jarrah trees.