If there are two enduring themes which have shaped Ben Coombe’s career, it’s the value of listening and ‘giving it a go’.

‘‘It’s a bit of a cliché but we are all born with two ears and one mouth, and there’s no better starting point to understanding your customers and building strong relationships with them but to listen,” he says.

Nearly nine years after joining Grochem Australia as its first employee in July 2016, Ben believes listening to growers and responding to their pain points has been one of the main drivers of the company’s growth to become a significant supplier in the horticulture industry today.  

“I’ll never forget those early days when it was just me and two partitions in the office and a handful of products on offer,” he says.

After 14 years in various sales, marketing and business development roles with major supplier, Nufarm Australia, Ben jumped at the opportunity to build the fledgling Grochem Australia from the ground up.

“Compared to working with a large international company like Nufarm, it was back to basics to come up with Grochem’s strategy and build a product portfolio and the team to deliver a credible offer for distributors and growers,” he says.

A year later, Grochem acquired Melpat International from long-term industry professional, Hamish Turner, adding a suite of fungicides to the company’s small range of plant growth regulators.

 Since those early days, the company has picked up the distribution rights for a host of specialty insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and other products primarily for the burgeoning horticulture market.

“As a result, our business has grown 14-fold to a portfolio of more than 120 products, with customers across every horticultural region in Australia and in New Zealand, Taiwan and South Korea,” Ben says.

He says he was indebted to every one of his nine-member team for ‘giving it a go’, growing the business and positioning it for future success.

“Our people are our great strength, and in such a competitive environment with so many big players, we are always asking ourselves what we can do better than anyone else?’ he says.

“That’s why I place so much importance on hand picking our team who care for customers, share our passion for horticulture and aim to deliver 120 per cent.”

As chief executive officer of 7 Worlds Ag, Ben can rightly take the credit for leading the company’s impressive growth since 2016 and positioning it for success in coming years.

“Building for the future was behind our move to become7 Worlds Ag last year, reflecting our reputation for innovative technology and our commitment to the Australian horticulture industry,” he says.

“And I’m pleased to report that this change in brand identity has been extremely well received by distributors and growers.”

Early lessons

Ben credits his parents with demonstrating the benefits of giving it a go. 

Born into a farming family at McLaren Vale, South Australia, among dairy and Poll Hereford cattle, Ben’s parents saw the decline in dairying and took up the opportunity to establish a farm on virgin country 1800 kilometres north at Moonie in south-west Queensland, in 1978.By any measure, it was a bold move.

“With two D9 bulldozers, a chain and solid determination, they cleared the country to grow wheat and sorghum and run sheep and cattle before selling out a few years later and moving to another farm at Dalby,” Ben says.

“My parents ran a similar broadacre operation there while my brother and I were away at boarding school in Brisbane, but after several years in Dalby, they sold out.

“A little while later and in a surprise step, they ended up buying two convenience stores on the Sunshine Coast.

“With every move, mum and dad taught us the value of having a go, learning from your mistakes and delivering on what you say you’ll do.”

Unsure of his career path, Ben did an Associate Diploma in Agronomy followed by a Bachelor of Business, majoring in agribusiness, at the University of Queensland’s Gatton campus.

He added there was no better way to take his first lessons in running a business and managing staff than to work in his parents’ store during holidays and after university.

That first real job

Ben’s first job in agriculture came in 1999 when he joined the family business, JH Williams, in Murwillumbah in their turf and seed division.

“Harry Williams was quite an entrepreneur, selling different grass seed varieties to the US before the business was sold to a larger seed company,” he says.

Three years later, Ben joined Nufarm as territory manager based in Bundaberg.

“Suddenly, I found myself steeped in crops ranging from sugar cane, tomatoes, capsicums and cucurbits, through avocado, macadamias and cotton from Bundaberg to Biloela and Moura,” he says.

“Add 145 products and a host of customers, and it was a steep learning curve.

“During that time, Nufarm took over the Australian distribution of Roundup herbicide and the BASF product range, so they were exciting and challenging times.”

Ben then took up the opportunity to move to Swan Hill as Nufarm territory manager, expanding his scant knowledge of broadacre cropping, as well as stone fruit, grapes and almonds, with the help of renowned local dealer,Reg Packer from Swan Hill Chemicals.

“Reg was very kind to me in those early days when I stumbled into broadacre cropping,” he says.

Within two years, Ben moved into his first dedicated horticulture role at Nufarm as horticulture manager for Victoria and Tasmania.

By 2010, his responsibilities expanded to become national horticulture manager, working closely with the company’s sales managers and global suppliers to drive Nufarm’s business in horticulture.

“Nufarm gave me some great opportunities and I enjoyed working in horticulture because there were so many crops and challenges, but the chance to develop a new business focused on horticulture led me to join Grochem Australia in 2016,” he says.

Challenges and opportunities

Ben enjoys working in a smaller business, where it is far easier to be nimble and fast while still forging good relationships with bigger companies, whether they are suppliers or distributor customers.

“Everyone in our team is accountable and if something needs to be done or someone needs a hand, we dig in and do it,” he says.

“As a niche supplier in horticulture, we must be relevant for customers to invite us through their doors, with unique chemistries or products that provide solutions to pain points for growers.

“This requires understanding the market, building relationships with growers, asking questions, listening and understanding their issues.

“We are fortunate to haveOrville Hildebrand as our research and development manager because he is passionate about identifying these issues and working with niche global suppliers in horticulture to find solutions and bring them into the Australian market.”

Looking ahead, Ben sees biosecurity as potentially the biggest threat to Australian horticultural growers.

“The world is becoming smaller, so we face bigger biosecurity threats from insects, diseases and weeds gaining access to our growing regions,” he says.

“In recent years, Varroa mite has shown just how vulnerable we are to serious pest incursions, while re blight is present in New Zealand pome fruit, just on our doorstep.

“We also recognise the challenge posed by the increasing consolidation of distribution businesses and the trend to greater vertical integration, which is blurring the boundaries between suppliers and distributors.

“Despite the challenges, I am a great believer in setting clear, simple goals and worrying only about the things that I can control.