AN ANCIENT grain has become a modern superfood, writes PETER HEMPHILL
It's not often that you can find an obscure product, see its potential and in a few short years become the world's leader in marketing and selling it.
West Australian farmer John Foss has revived an ancient, little-known plant grown in Central and South America and turned Australia into the biggest producer of its grain in the world, all within a decade.
Chia is a plant once grown by the Mayan, Aztec and Inca civilisations, as early as 3500BC.
It produces seeds about 1mm in diameter, which are high in dietary fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, protein and antioxidants.
While its nutritive powers were no secret to the Mayans, Aztecs and Incas, it is only in recent decades that chia has become known to modern civilisation as a "superfood".
John's interest in chia began when he won a Nuffield scholarship in 2001.
A fourth-generation grain and sheep farmer with a degree in agribusiness, a diploma in marketing and a certificate in sustainable agriculture, he travelled the world looking at trends that would affect agriculture in the future.
He found agriculture would eventually be driven by four factors: water, energy, the environment and consumer health and wellbeing.
"I was looking at natural solutions to modern health problems, such as diabetes and obesity," John said.
"That's when I discovered the chia seed."
John travelled through Central and South America looking at chia crops, but found the grain had inconsistent quality and quantity, largely due to its reliance on rain for growth.
He also found chia production and quality was very sensitive to latitude: it only grew well at about 15 degrees north or south of the Equator.
He said attempts at growing the crop in the US and southern Argentina, outside the optimum growing latitude, resulted in the crop failing to flower.
"If you grow at latitudes less than the optimum range, the crop might flower but the omega-3 levels are not right, so the crop becomes valueless," John said.
He began an irrigated chia industry in the Ord River region of Western Australia's Kimberleys.
With partners Robert Boshammer and Tim Croot, he established the Chia Company in 2005.
The Australian industry began with initial trials, followed by four years of commercial production.
The Chia company directors are all major farmers on the Ord River and grow a large proportion of the 1000ha of chia planted last year.
The company has contracted a number of other growers, in a closed-loop marketing system.
John said crops were planted in late April or early May, after the wet season had passed, and harvested in August and September, before the next wet season began.
He said a dry end to the season was critical, as rain during the grain-filling period could result in aflatoxins spoiling the crop.
"Key challenges are to get the right rotations and weed management under control," John said.
"Chia is really difficult to grow and harvest, because it is such a tiny seed.
"Fertility of the soil is important, as good establishment is dependent on a good seed bed."
John said weed management was one of a number of issues overcome during five years of production trials.
"The biggest challenge is ensuring there is adequate moisture from the vegetative phase to the reproductive stage, because there is such a tight time-frame in growing the crop," he said.
"There are also challenges with harvesting and handling the crop, because of the small size of the seed."
The Chia Company has a range of health-food products, with distinctive orange branding, representing the soil colour of the Kimberley region.
It produces chia oil, flour, bran, whole seed and ground seed, using Australian and overseas processors.
These products can be used in baking, spread on breakfast cereal or sprinkled on salads.
All the products are traceable back to Chia Company farms through their bar codes.
Last year, the Chia Company took the significant step of appointing professional business development staff to its small team.
John said the company had been exporting quantities of chia to the US, Canada, Asia and parts of Europe for about five years.
It was now the largest producer of chia in the world.
At a trade show in Europe more than a year ago, representatives of Australian bakery chain Bakers Delight began talks with the Chia Company about supplying the grain to its bakers.
A partnership was born out of those talks, and last week Bakers Delight launched a chia bread, using the orange colours of the Chia Company.
John said the partnership with Bakers Delight had given the Chia Company the confidence to double its plantings to 2000ha this year.
"With stage two of the Ord River Scheme, we can see chia production becoming a $20 million industry over the next five years," he said.
John said the company's goals were to ensure there was "fair value for everyone along the supply chain".
