A New Leaf – Garden City Plastics

For nearly 50 years, Garden City Plastics has supplied horticulture products and services far across the country. Since 2021, their partnership with DAF Trucks has further sustained this outreach.

Founded by Len and Austral Wilson in 1975 in Heatherton Victoria, and currently owned by their son, Graeme, Garden City Plastics (GCP) has evolved into Australia’s leading manufacturer and distributor of horticultural products, offering a wide variety of industry stock to clients. Following steady success under Len’s leadership, GCP outgrew its humble beginnings and sought to expand company operations, moving to the old SPC Jam Factory at Monbulk in 1992.

Over time, history repeated itself, and GCP moved again, to Dandenong South in 2016. There, the company purchased the old General Motors-Holden facility, and completely refurbished it into the ultimate facility for horticultural-oriented production and distribution. Fast forward eight years, and GCP employs over 350 staff, with two manufacturing and five distribution sites in the country. Operations around Australia are non-stop, according to GCP General Manager, Geoff Allison.

“To accommodate the market, we’ve had to grow,” he says.  “We run 24 hours a day.”

The behemoth Dandenong South site is the headquarters of GCP’s pan-Australian force, decked out with the necessary equipment to facilitate frequent demand. The site features 100 injection-moulding machines, which is the main engine room for the company, a massive machine shop, and employs a multitude of electricians, plumbers, and other workers, stretching for 35 acres.

“Yeah, it’s certainly a large operation,” Geoff says.

From this nucleus of production, contracted B-double trucks embark on long drives to distribute products to customers across Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia. Geoff attests that GCP’s widespread presence in the country is what gives the company its definitive edge over competitors in the horticultural industry.

“We have warehouses in each state that are full of stock, all the time,” he says. “We have a system in our warehousing where our stock between locations can be replenished, so it’s kept full at all times.”

GCP’s engagement with growers is, in addition to its large-scale distribution network, also handled by specialised sales representatives and product managers who go out to meet growers face-to-face and assess their product needs. GCP also maintains its presence in the horticultural industry by attending numerous trade shows, and even running its own shows, in which it invites the company’s major suppliers to provide technical advice to existing and prospective clients.

GCP’s undeniable outreach across Australia, providing clients with large orders and highly demanded products, would not be possible without a reliable vehicle fleet to make these crucial journeys. GCP’s fleet has been sustained by known truck manufacturer, DAF, who shares a close professional relationship with the company.

Since partnering in 2021, DAF has provided GCP with five trucks out of the company’s current 17-vehicle fleet, and more DAF trucks are expected to be added with time.The majority of these trucks are housed in Victoria, though one was purchased for GCP’s New South Wales branch in 2023.

“As the older trucks drop off, we’ll be adding some more DAFs,” Geoff says.

Muzammil Syed better known under the sobriquet ‘Muza’, is their DAF Consultant at the Hallam Truck Centre. GCP has engaged in previous partnerships, collaborating with a Japanese brand for a period, as well as another prominent European cabover OEM, a few of whose trucks are sparingly represented in the company’s current fleet.

The five DAF trucks have quickly proven their worth to the GCP fleet and its operations across Australia, strengthening the company’s ability to distribute products on a national scale.

The DAF trucks, coming in two models, are each designed to carry out specific distribution tasks. The DAF LF290s operate in a 14-pallet application. These have been assigned to distribute many basic products and equipment to customers. GCP has primarily been a manufacturer of plastic plant pots throughout its history, the size of which can vary anywhere from 50-700 millimetres, but the LF290s have also been able to support GCP’s ambitious growing range of product offerings.

GCP now supplies allied products like fertilisers, bamboo stakes, chemicals like herbicides and pesticides, and more. GCP’s truck fleet has enabled them to expand their value proposition and cater to more consumer needs.

“We try and give clients a one-stop shop to go to,” Geoff says. “Anything to do with trying to grow a plant, we can provide.”

The other DAF model in the GCP range is the CF530. Built with DAF’s highest horsepower capability, running on the PACCAR MX-13 powerplant that delivers maximum torque of up to 2,600 Nm, the trucks are paired with trailer attachments, designed to carry heavy cargo. GCP, in its division Rotouff, has specifically been using the Euro 6 DAF CF530s to distribute powder to the rotational-moulding industry which in turn is used to produce water storage tanks for the commercial and domestic market.

This powder weighs between 20 and 22 tonnes, requiring the CF530s sturdy chassis to support the heavy cargo on interstate trips. The plastic powder is produced by Micropellets, a subsidiary of GCP established in 2005.

DAF’s partnership with GCP has allowed the manufacturer to continue servicing clients across the country for many horticultural needs, but it has also brought many benefits to the company’s own drivers.

DAF has delivered a high standard of care and engineering which GCP’s drivers have actively praised, passing on their thoughts regarding the quality of the manufacturer’s workmanship and attentiveness to Geoff.

“The DAF trucks have been fantastic additions to the current fleet. The professionalism from the DAF team during the transition to the new trucks, and the service on our existing DAF trucks, has been incredible,” Geoff says, speaking on behalf of the company drivers.

“The comfort of the trucks helps me with long trips. And they’re very good with fuel efficiency.”

Having grown its presence into every corner of the country, the company’s current priority is to maintain its operational capacity across Australia.

Only a few years into a fruitful partnership, the continued integration of DAF vehicles into GCP’s powerful fleet can only tighten the company’s firm grip on the horticultural market.

Article reproduced courtesy of Prime Mover Magazine (October 2024).

Image: Geoff Allison, Garden City Plastics GM.