Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development
Western Australian produce companies, Fruitico Pty Ltd (Fruitico) and Fresh Express Produce Pty Ltd (Fresh Express), have each paid penalties of $99,000 after the ACCC issued each business with five infringement notices for alleged breaches of the Horticulture Code.
The ACCC alleges that Fruitico traded with table grape growers without having a Code‑compliant horticulture produce agreement in place.
The ACCC separately alleges that wholesaler Fresh Express failed to provide required gross sale price information to growers in statements about the sale of produce, as required by the Code.
“Growers need clear, timely information about how prices are set and how their produce is sold,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.
“Agreements that don’t meet the Code’s minimum standards reduce transparency and prevent growers from accessing essential information about their trading relationship and produce sales.”
“All horticultural traders should be on notice that we are monitoring their compliance with the Code and will take enforcement action where necessary,” Mr Keogh said.
Horticulture Code review an opportunity to improve transparency and strengthen protections for growers
The ACCC is concerned that the current Code requirements do not always give growers the clear, timely information they need, and may enable less transparent practices across the supply chain.
As the Code has not been updated since 2017, the current independent review initiated by the Government is an important opportunity to promote stronger and clearer requirements for horticulture produce agreements.
“Measures such as strengthening pricing transparency, banning the use of opaque pricing methods, and requiring grower statements to show clearer pricing details would help growers to more easily check outcomes and understand returns,” Mr Keogh said.
“Providing more detailed and timely sale information, for example, buyer details, price, sale date and any relationship between trader and buyer, would also allow growers to better compare terms between wholesalers and enhance competition in the market.”
This information is routinely provided to farmers by their agents when they sell livestock, wool or grain, but unfortunately is not routinely provided by traders in fresh produce markets despite many regulatory efforts over past decades to bring about needed changes.
Lack of detailed sale information adversely impacts growers’ long-term business planning and investment, and their ability to respond to market trends.
It also increases the risk of disputes arising about past matters that can be more difficult to resolve.
Background
Fruitico is a Western Australian grower, buyer and wholesaler of table grapes. Fruitico processes about 80 per cent of Western Australia’s table grapes each year.
Fresh Express is a Western Australian wholesaler of a wide range of horticulture produce with a presence in the Perth markets.
The Horticulture Code is a mandatory industry code under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. It applies to trade between growers and traders and aims to improve clarity and transparency in horticulture transactions.
Key requirements of the Code include having a compliant horticulture produce agreement in place, providing growers with statements with specific information about the sale of their produce, and publishing terms of trade.
As of June 2026, corporations can face penalties of up to $99,000 for breaches of civil penalty provisions of the Code.
The ACCC has previously taken enforcement action under the Code, including issuing infringement notices and penalties for alleged non-compliance.
Recent public infringement notice outcomes include:
Independent review of Horticulture Code
On 28 January 2026, the Australian Government announced an independent review of the Code. The ACCC has made a submission in response to an initial consultation that ended in March 2026, recommending changes to:
- prohibit merchants from setting the price they pay for the purchase of the grower’s horticulture produce as an amount calculated by method or formula, and
- require traders to provide substantially more detailed and timely information to growers about the sale of produce sold on their behalf.
The ACCC considers that permitting merchants to set prices by a method or formula, when they are not subject to the same obligations under the Code as agents, allows merchants to act in a way that significantly disadvantages growers. This was discussed in the ACCC Supermarkets Inquiry Final Report (2025).
Note to editors
The payment of a penalty specified in an infringement notice is not an admission of a contravention of the Horticulture Code or Australian Consumer Law.
The ACCC can issue an infringement notice when it has reasonable grounds to believe a person or business has contravened certain provisions in the Horticulture Code.