in Horsham, Victoria, was established in 1995 by Jack Johnson and Denis Johnson. This year marks an extraordinary milestone as the joint venture celebrates its 30th anniversary—an impressive achievement for a long-standing partnership with an overseas company. In 2024, the venture completed a new greenfield site, featuring state-of-the-art facilities capable of processing 200,000 metric tonnes of hay and straw, making it one of the leading operations of its kind worldwide. “If any link fails—farm, factory, port, vessel, warehouse, wholesaler—you feel it,” Johnson says.“We work every link, every year.” CARBON-NEUTRAL BY DESIGN, NOT DECLARATION Sustainability runs through the operating model. Johnson Group is well advanced on a carbon-neutral pathway, driven by solar generation, on-farm practice change, efficiency investments, and a supply-chain lens that prizes miles, moisture, and methane. “We don’t view carbon as a marketing line,” Johnson says. “It’s operational resilience. Lower energy per tonne, better fibre per litre of milk, fewer losses from paddock to port—that’s good business and good stewardship.” STRATEGY: CONSOLIDATE, CALIBRATE, THEN CLIMB After a decade of scale—revenue growing from roughly $50 million in the early 2000s to ~$150 million today—the company is in a planned consolidation phase: right-sizing, sharpening systems, and investing in people and tech. “We’ve grown fast,” Johnson says.“Now we’re pausing to get the details perfect—skills, systems, safety—so the next climb is built on rock, not sand.” Johnson also points out that the company’s growth vectors are clear: deeper penetration in dairy, Wagyualigned beef programs, and premium equine rations; expansion in pet and horse feed lines; and market development in Southeast Asia alongside core North Asian and Middle Eastern channels. The company will continue to balance sites (SA,VIC,WA) to smooth climate risk and protect continuity. “We still see ourselves as a small family business on the edge of the Barossa—just one with global responsibilities,” Johnson says.“If we stay innovative, keep faith with our farmers, and honour our partnerships, the next hundred years will take care of themselves.” 17 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 07, ISSUE 11 J.T. JOHNSON AND SONS
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