Feature
Issue No. 6 - July/September 2002
Growing Wild
Neutrog, the company and the brand name, came into being in 1988, when Angus Irwin and a business partner launched an operation based at Kanmantoo in the Adelaide Hills, on the head office site of the defunct Kanmantoo copper mines.
The operation initially covered 25 hectares with 10,000m2 under cover. Since 1988 more than $2.5 million has been spent upgrading and expanding the plant, office and factory space. Turnover in the first year was $70,000—a long way behind costs—and viability depended on quick market penetration with its innovative products.
The key to the company’s initial success was product development. Neutrog ‘Rapid Raiser’ makes up about 70% of product sales. Since early days, a principal ingredient of Rapid Raiser has been composted poultry carcasses in a mix of ingredients that is steam heated and pelletised. The result is a product range without peer that includes Rapid Raiser, Bounce Back, Upsurge, Blade Runner and the recently released Sudden Impact for roses.
All of these products are formulated and marketed to specific horticultural markets. Neutrog’s development strategy is to continually upgrade extablished product ranges by adding to the range to meet a perceived niche demand and the company doesn’t hesitate to work with its potential customers.
For example, the recently-launched ‘Sudden Impact’ for roses was developed with technical input from the Rose Growers Association of South Australia and trialled in cooperation with that group.
“The rose enthusiasts are delighted with the results and we have sold out of a premium product,” Angus summarises.
In recent years the viticultural market has been particularly buoyant. Neutrog customers have included Mildara Blass, SouthCorp, Orlando and Petaluma.
“We are now staging a major push to sell ‘Rapid Raiser’ to broadacre farmers,” Angus says. “We have had...
