Article by Brad Thompson courtesy of the Australian Financial Review.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart is quietly on her way to becoming Australia’s biggest truffle grower.
The Hancock Prospecting boss has been growing truffles for almost four years in the south-west corner of Western Australia. The venture has remained a secret outside her inner circle, until now.
Mrs Rinehart has some 20,000 oak and hazel trees planted as hosts for truffles, which are the spores of a fungus found in root systems and often referred to as the black diamond of the kitchen.
Gina Rinehart already has about 20,000 oak and hazel trees planted as hosts for truffles.
Australia’s wealthiest person wants to have 30,000 trees by this time next year and is eying local and export markets.
Mrs Rinehart shed light on the venture when announcing yet another bonus stream for workers on her iron ore mines, who are already some of the best paid – and best fed – in the resources industry.
She told the workers they could look forward to more wagyu from her vast cattle operations on the menu at mine sites, and raised the prospect of the steaks being topped with shavings of truffle.
“We’re always looking for good opportunities to invest and grow,” she told The Australian Financial Review.
The truffles are being grown near the award-winning Bannister Downs Dairy at Northcliffe that Mrs Rinehart has owned in partnership with the Daubney family since 2014.
The nearby Oak Valley Truffles operations at Manjimup, developed by businessman and former Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards, are considered the biggest in Australia, with about 38,000 trees across 75 hectares.
“I want to see our companies continue to improve and for our staff to continue to be proud and happy to work in our businesses,” Mrs Rinehart said.
“I was introducing a new bonus and this was happily received, however, when I mentioned that we would be increasing our 2GR Wagyu to our mining operations in the north, this was greeted with far more enthusiasm and applause than the extra bonus.
“I’d like to grow the 2GR Wagyu, and deliver this and Bannister Downs Dairy products, together with the delicious Kidman pies, to more of our staff in the outback. And, once our truffle production increases, add some truffles too.”
There are now a handful of bonus schemes, including profit share and loyalty payments, spread across different parts of the Rinehart business empire.
Hefty profit share bonuses, which can reach 33 per cent of base wages, were paid out to mine workers last week.
WA exports more than 90 per cent of the nation’s truffles and is now the world’s fourth-largest producer after Spain, France and Italy.
The WA government has forecast production to increase to more than 20 tonnes by 2025.
Last year, 8.7 tonnes of WA truffles worth more than $7 million were exported to North America, Europe, the United Kingdom and Asia.
It is understood Mrs Rinehart will consider branching out into white truffles if her black truffle venture proves a success.
Mrs Rinehart also plans to supply the local market through her recently acquired stake in the Bunbury Farmers Market, which sits between Perth and her truffle operations.
She has also forked out close to $20 million acquiring a cluster of farms at Winnejup in the past 18 months as part of a growing footprint in WA’s south-west.
