Meet Jody Williston from Theriault & Hachey Peat Moss

From the vast peatlands of Canada to the flourishing nurseries of South Australia, Jody Williston from Theriault & Hachey Peat Moss reveals the intricate supply chain facilitated by Global Axis. As the bridge between Canadian peat moss producers and horticultural innovators like Living Colour Nursery, Global Axis ensures seamless logistics and unwavering support. Dive into how their commitment to quality and efficiency helps customers like Ash of Living Colour navigate industry challenges and unlock opportunities in sustainable growing practices.

Read the following Q & A. captured when Jody recently visited us in Adelaide to learn more about how he works alongside Global Axis and customers in their usage of peat.

Tell us a bit about your product and what it’s used for.

Theriault & Hachey Peat Moss is a producer of sphagnum peat moss which people know it mostly as peat. Basically, it’s a product that has generated over the last 10,000 years. And, in Canada, we only have touched about 0.03% of all the peatlands in Canada. We’re supplying that product to Australia and New Zealand for growing young plants and mushrooms.

What’s your relationship with Global Axis?

Global Axis, basically, are our sales arm in Australia and New Zealand. But not only that, logistics is a big part of their business. So they make sure that our customers always have plentiful supply. If a bump occurs in the road, that they have backup. So, inventory at different parts of Australia, which they can supply our customers in relatively quick fashion.

What is the biggest challenge to the industry at the moment?

There’s a lot of challenges in the industry. That’s the nature of the beast, I guess when you’re growing. But economics is always tough, and I think that people have felt the pinch in the last couple of years with the inflationary pressures, so to be able to have customers that are doing well in this difficult market and to keep growing is very tough. What we found is that the ones who focus on quality and on relationships are doing well and ones who basically look for the cheapest price are the ones having a struggle at the moment.

What do Global Axis do well?

What they do well is they look at a customer and they understand what the concerns are for that customer. Then, they are able to basically propose the best solution to what that customer needs. So, quality, efficiency, price, you know, just basically sometimes even having a shoulder to cry on when you’re having issues. So they’ve got big hearts and it’s amazing to deal with people that are genuinely good people.

What’s the biggest opportunities that you’re seeing in the industry in the next few years?

The opportunity is that Australia and New Zealand are growing markets. I believe that there’s a lot of untapped potential in some of the plant areas such as berries and other fruits and vegetables., There’s a lot more container growing that’s going to be happening in the industry worldwide and that’s because it’s making more efficient usage of land and other resources such as water, fertiliser, and whatnot. So you’re going to see a lot more container growing, which means you need more container media, which, peat moss is a part of that, along with, bark, wood fibre, perlite, coir, and all other inputs.

The future’s very bright because overall, I think the people are recognising that we have to be more efficient and smarter with what we do with our resources.

What did you do here today at Living Colour?

Ash from Living Colour graciously gave us his time to show us his operation and not only how he uses the peat, but what he uses it for and how every step of the process is important. It’s not just about getting this right, but it’s also about tweaking this thing at the end and make sure dispatch knows this and having the right software systems in place and the right people in place. So it’s been very informativeand to me and it reminds me why we have to do a good job when I actually meet the people buying a product.

The partnership between Global Axis, Living Colour Nursery, and Theriault & Hachey Peat Moss showcases the power of collaboration in driving innovation and sustainability in horticulture. Together, they are nurturing growth, both in plants and in relationships that span decades.

Want to hear more? Watch the full interview with Jody here.