History
Kalyx Australia is the result of more than 20 years of dedication and commitment to the agricultural research sector by two independently owned and operated rural businesses. Kalyx was born from two geographically opposed but identical research organisations operating on either side of Australia. Kalyx in WA opened its doors in the rural town of York in WA in 1996, and quickly grew to a successful research company operating in Perth employing more than 20 staff conducting field trials throughout regional WA in 2012.
Agritech, on the eastern side of Australia opened its doors in the South West of NSW in Young in April 2000, and in the ensuing 12 years expanded into other regional centres in including Wagga, Narrabri, and Naracoorte. By 2012, Agritech was also employing 20 staff. The industry was changing, and traditional government research providers and multi nationals were downsizing their technical teams and research services. The large multinational chemical companies were merging or acquiring seed companies, and the landscape of Australian agriculture was changing. More international competition was moving into Australia, and the respective directors of the two companies felt it was time for a combined force to tackle the market. And so it was that Kalyx Australia was established in July 2012. Since merging, Kalyx has continued to expand across Australia, opening branches at Horsham, Toowoomba, Corowa, Orange and Gunnedah. In 2015, the business expanded its scope of operations with the acquisition of a Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) facility based out of Melbourne. Then in early 2017, Kalyx joined forces with another research company specialising in Horticulture and GLP in Perth, Peracto WA. This initiative has led to the expansion of the horticultural presence across Australia. In 2018 there will be Kalyx staff operating out of Esperance, Busselton, Geraldton and Beverly in WA to meet the increasing demand for services.
Today, the six Directors of Kalyx are all actively employed in the business. Ashley Bacon is the General Manager and sits in Perth, along with fellow Directors Barrett Sinclair and Mark Sumner. In the east, Peter Hamblin and Sue McGregor operate out of Young, and Denis Harvey operates from Narrabri. Kalyx operates three distinct business zones. The northern Australia business stretches from Dubbo north, the southern business covers Dubbo south to Adelaide, and the Western business includes all of Western Australia.
Today Kalyx employs over 90 staff with an additional 60 – 80 employed over the peak period of harvest around the country. Kalyx and its people believe in the future of agriculture and the important role it plays in feeding the world. The advanced technologies employed by Kalyx to monitor trials and to communicate with clients is second to none. Clients are kept up to date every day with the progress of their trials.
Kalyx predominantly operates in rural and regional communities around Australia. This is a great strength of the business in that the people at Kalyx know and understand the crops they are working in, and they are part of the communities where these crops form the lifeblood of the region. Staff retention is high at Kalyx due to the close-knit ‘family-like’ culture that exists at branches. Our people feel valued and rewarded for the work they do every day. Kalyx and its staff are committed to the prosperity and success of Australian agriculture, and actively recruit up to eight new Agriculture graduates each year from around Australia into their XSeed Technical Training program. Kalyx invests significant time into supporting and developing these professionals through their time at Kalyx.