1940's
1947
The origins of ‘Flegler Group’ began as early as 1947 when, Ernest Ronald (Ron) Flegler, the grandfather of Cameron and Warwick, planted bananas in East Feluga near Tully, Queensland. Some years later Ron expanded into growing sugarcane, as well. Ron Flegler is the son of early Tully pioneer Peter Flegler, who loved the year-round rain, agricultural appeal and ample fishing opportunities of the area.
1960's
1962
Much like most sons wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps, Ron Flegler’s son Gordon (Cameron and Warwick’s father) decides to enter the family business. Gordon, a hard-worker and avid fisherman, plants more bananas beside Brick Creek on Davidson Road in Tully.
1963
Gordon makes a significant sugarcane expansion in the Tully Valley region.
1968
Gordon Flegler earnestly grows bananas on Brick Road, working seven days a week, to build his business.
1970's
1971
Gordon began operating as GJ Flegler Pty Ltd, the G for Gordon and the J for his wife Jenny. Later in the year, he wins at auction a new block of land on Tully Gorge Rd under a Queensland Government initiative.
1973
Gordon and Jenny welcome their first child, Cameron with brother Stuart arriving two years later.
1975
Gordon moves banana operations to Tully Gorge Road, on the other side of the Tully River to the Brick Creek Road farm. It made perfect farming sense economically and to also increase the likelihood of catching bigger Barramundi after work. Meanwhile sugarcane remains at the Brick Creek farm.
1979
Gordon purchases the Flegler Family’s “Estate Farm” in Birkalla, closer to the Tully township. It is a large sugarcane block together with the pioneering homestead his grandfather Peter owned and the house Ron grew up in. In lieu of sugar cane, Gordon made the important decision to plant bananas at the farm.
The reason for this decision was to spell the land at Brick Creek more frequently. He also believed bananas would grow well because of the rich soil and an abundance of water to access.
Eventually, the farm reverted back to growing sugar which still grows on the property to this day and the home has seen generations of Fleglers grow up there for over 100 years. The house being rebuilt in 1981.
1980's
1983
Gordon trials the theory of the ‘nurse sucker’ technique with neighbour Ritchie Shoobridge. Most people in the industry had thought he’d lost his senses yet the technique turned out to be very successful.
Not one to take big risks, he saw the benefit of fruit coming to maturity during the winter months for better prices. At first, he trials only a row of bananas, then an acre. After seeing the potential with these successes, he then implements nurse suckering to larger parts of his farm. In short, nurse suckering involves sacrificing a mature banana tree so its offspring (sucker) produces a bunch during the colder months.
Before this, supply during winter was reduced because banana trees naturally have slow growth in lower temperatures. Since then, nurse suckering has been fully adopted by the industry, and is now an integral process in banana farming. Banana prices in Australia are now quite stable year round for consumers with continuous supply and less seasonal fluctuations.
Also in 1983, Jenny and Gordon welcome son Warwick with youngest brother Rohan arriving 5 years later.
1985
Gordon develops land in Kennedy, a township outside of Tully, for sugarcane farming.
1986
Gordon expands Tully Gorge Road operations with subsequent land purchases from neighbours. Gordon also takes up golf with mixed results.
1986
Cyclone Winifred hits in January and devastates the local banana industry; however Gordon’s implementation of the nurse suckering technique proves it’s worth again. Although, his fully grown trees are lost due to the intense, howling winds, his paddocks with trees that have been nurse suckered remain standing. This is because the trees are still young and smaller with leaves that aren’t as developed and therefore do not catch the wind as more mature crops.
1990's
1990
Gordon experiments with heavy de-leafing prior to Cyclone Joy in an effort to save trees from gale force winds. The cyclonic winds decimate banana trees, knocking trees over when their sail-like leaves seize the wind. Most would remember the high banana prices when these events occur.
Gordon purchases Shoobridge farm from neighbor Ritchie and expands the Tully Gorge Road operations to include two packing sheds.
1993
Cameron having sworn he never wants to work on bananas again after spending most of his youth out the paddock during school holidays decides to join Gordon in the family business. Gordon’s golf divots by this time are notorious.
1996
Stuart completes his Electrical Fitter/Mechanic trade at the Tully Sugar Mill.
1997
Gordon and Cameron begin their banana growing venture as father and son with a new company, C and G Flegler. Gordon’s golf game has reached a true milestone after hitting a hole in one.
1998
Gordon and Cameron purchase parcels of land of the well-known King Ranch estate located on South Davidson Rd and establish the Munro Hill banana farm. Images of this farm in its current operations are throughout this website and give the viewer a real taste of wholesome banana work.
2000's
2000
Tragically, Gordon passes away after a brave and arduous fight against cancer. The family obviously devasted gives thanks to his legacy of being an honest, hard-working and loving father. The running of the business is left in good hands with Jenny, Cameron, Stuart, Warwick and Rohan all contributing in their own way.
2001
Black Sigatoka is found in the banana paddocks of the Tully region causing industry wide panic. This leaf-related disease is an aggressive black fungus that eats the leaves of a banana tree.
Consequently, the leaves begin to deteriorate to the point where the banana tree dies. As with previous leaf-related diseases such as Yellow Sikatoka, infected leaves can be successfully removed in time to prevent further spread.
However, Black Sigatoka accelerates too quickly to prevent the spores being carried in the air to other trees. This disease would have devastated the banana industry had the growers not destroyed entire paddocks to eliminate spread.
From this, Flegler Group moved to using mini sprinklers instead of taller, aerial irrigation systems that disturb the leaf causing Black Sigatoka to spread easier. Cameron Flegler was a victim of having to destroy entire paddocks at his Brick Creek farm and had to cease operations there.
Yet, a hopeful prospect emerges as mini-sprinklers conserve water compared to previous irrigation techniques saving natural resources and helping the bottom line which still benefits growers today.
The Flegler Group logo concept is the bone structure of a barramundi which was designed from a trophy that Gordon Flegler won from fishing. Himself and his friends had a competition every year amongst themselves that whoever caught the biggest barramundi for the year won the trophy.
After Gordon’s battle with cancer his friends insisted the family keep the trophy as an to honour him and his love of fishing as Gordon was the last winner before his passing.
2002
Cameron and Stuart, starts suppling Coles under the Tropicana brand. Stuart moves packing from his River shed to Road shed.
2005
Warwick Flegler graduates university with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from James Cook University in Townsville. Yet, he just can’t seem to stay away from the blistering heat and occasional floods that Tully offers (hence the fantastic growing conditions) and decides to join his brothers growing bananas.
2006
Cyclone Larry nearly wipes out the banana industry in Tully, Innisfail and surrounding regions. After losing nearly 100% of banana crop; however, Cameron, Stuart and Warwick gain further insight into cyclone mitigation strategies building on Gordon’s techniques.
2008
The Flegler brothers move their Coles supply to Deluca Banana Marketing (DBM).
2010's
2011
Learning from lessons begrudgingly experienced in the aftermath of Cyclone Larry, three years earlier, the family blueprints one of the industry’s most successful cyclone mitigation procedures for the much bigger Cyclone Yasi.
2012
Stuart makes the decision to step down from the family business to pick up the tools up as an electrician moving to South East Queensland. Warwick assumes the full-time management position at Tully Gorge Road utilising his skill set as an engineer.
2014
Rohan graduates from Bond University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree dual majoring in Economics and Finance and an MBA a few years later from the Australian Institute of Business. Using these skills, Rohan assists his brothers with administration projects.
2015
Flegler Group is born! Cameron and Warwick as directors replace GJ Flegler Pty Ltd with Flegler Group as the operating entity.
However, the party is short-lived as the plant disease that affects bananas, TR4 (Panama disease), is detected on a neighbouring farm near the Tully Gorge Road farm. Measures are immediately taken by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to prevent the spread to neighboring farms, Flegler Group included. The growth of a tree infected with TR4 is severely affected and prevents any real production of fruit.
2016
Cameron and Warwick purchase land at Caravan Hill, an area close to Tully, to grow sugar cane.
It’s not all good news though as the banana disease TR4 is unfortunately detected on Warwick’s Tully Gorge Road farm. This means quarantine procedures are strictly put in place to avoid spreading to neighboring farms.
A silver lining emerges as efforts are also made to reduce the affect the disease has on running the farm by finding new, efficient ways of growing bananas
2020's
2020
Cameron and Warwick purchase land in Mareeba to expand the business operations to another region to diversify locations against cyclones and yield a more consistent supply. Mareeba is an hour drive inland from Cairns and is known for its 300 days of sunshine compared to Tully that is considered the wettest town in Australia. In this context though, Mareeba is still well supplied with water with aqueducts from Tinaroo Dam.
2021
Warwick moves his family to Atherton nearby to tend to the new farm and to also elevate his water-skiing finesse on the lake.
As the new Mareeba farm starts to produce fruit, the Tully Gorge Road farm is slowly reducing production. To date, about a quarter of bananas have not been replanted, this reduces the exposure to TR4 disease and aids Warwick running the Mareeba farm.
2022
Cameron and Warwick continue to operate Flegler Group, ready for the opportunities and challenges that await in the banana industry.
2024
Despite facing challenges at the outset of 2024 with severe flooding and two cyclones, Flegler Group, under Warwick’s direction, boldly expanded our banana cultivation by adding 50 acres.
This strategic growth not only reflects our resilience but also our commitment to sustainable farming and ensuring a steady supply of quality bananas to our customers.
Flegler Group are third generation banana and sugarcane producers providing situated in Tully in North Queensland.
The beginnings of Flegler Group began as early as 1947 when, Ron, the grandfather of Cameron and Warwick, planted bananas in Tully
With over 100 employees, and managing 1000 hectares of growing land, find the role you're looking for with the Flegler Group team.
Flegler Group participates in a number of sustainability initiatives and programs to lessen the impact of our business on the planet.
