Josanne Cassar
in Sydney
Of all the success stories we have heard in Australia while accompanying Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi on his visit there, the story of Billy Cassar is the one which perhaps best encapsulates “the Australian dream”.
As an enterprising young boy in Victoria, Billy was already running his own fruit shop by the time he was 12. Displaying an innate savvy even at that young age, he realised he could make more money by catering for the needs of tourists, so he extended his opening hours to suit them. When he was 16 years old, he phoned his dad from the airport to inform the family that he was off to Australia to join his sister who was already living there.
Entering the country ostensibly on a three-month visa, he managed to wriggle away from the immigration authorities no less than six times.
“For the first four years I was an illegal immigrant and worked illegally, because you have to live! They finally caught up with me and took away my passport. I was supposed to be deported, but even though I had bought I ticket, I had already decided I wasn’t leaving. So on my last day I went to the immigration office and met this girl who told me that all I had to do was fill up a form and tell them I was waiting for my status to be approved.
“I had to wait 11 months and 10 days for it to come through. My brother in Malta was getting married and I was just about to leave to go for his wedding, when I received my papers – with the stipulation that I couldn’t leave Australia for a year! So you see, it was meant to be. When I first came to Australia I was with 35 other people, who had all come here to emigrate, and I was the only one that should have gone back. As it turned out, they all returned to Malta and I was the only one who stayed. I really believe it was my destiny.”
Billy has come a long way since then. Twenty-two years ago, together with his partner, Charlie Cordina from Fontana, Gozo, they opened Hydro Produce, which supplies freshly packed herbs, vegetables and fruit to over 2,000 large supermarket chains and independent shops throughout Australia.
The company now employs 87 people, about 15 of whom are Maltese and Gozitan. With a turnover of around Lm15-20 million, employees work around the clock 24 hours, seven days a week in order to ensure everything is delivered in as fresh a condition as possible.
Everything from Chinese broccoli to your common garden turnip can be ordered from here. The produce is purchased from farmers from all over Australia, but some of the vegetables are actually grown in water, by Billy’s own company.
Situated at Flemington markets, Hydro Produce was the site of a visit by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Mrs Gonzi today. After listening to his amazing story, they were given a tour of Billy Cassar’s impressive enterprise while Dr Gonzi stopped to chat with a few Maltese employees who couldn’t seem to believe that Malta’s Prime Minister was actually at their workplace.
Joe Grech came to work at Hydro Produce nine years ago in the receiving and dispatch department, “I have known Charlie Cordina, Billy’s partner, for a long time, because we left from Xaghra, Gozo together 35 years ago. It’s good to work here; they treat us well.”
Arthur Moore, born of an English father and Maltese mother, is another Maltese employee at Hydro Produce. He is also the proud father of Kevin Moore, who is the Australian gold medal champion in the 100 and 200-metre sprint for under-18s.
Alfred Sammut, who originally emigrated from Birkirkara 46 years ago, is now retired. He had decided to drop by to visit an old friend at Hydro Produce and to his surprise, found himself in the middle of the Maltese delegation. “I never expected to meet the Maltese Prime Minister here!” he said.
Hydro Produce is one of the 120 wholesalers which make up Sydney Market Ltd, the largest privately-owned market in the world. More significantly for a poor boy from Gozo, Billy is also a shareholder in Sydney Market Ltd.
“It’s always hard to be successful; we’re always striving to improve, because in this kind of work you can never say you’re finished,” Billy says in his Aussie accent. It is only when he slips back into Maltese that one can still hear the Gozitan dialect.
Orders come in by fax or online so the buyers no longer need to come personally to choose the produce. “The volume is so big that these days supermarkets order their goods 12 months ahead. We are also trying to keep prices stable, because 40 per cent of the people can’t afford to buy fruit and vegetables, so we are making them more affordable.”
Another generation of the Cassar family is already ensuring that the company has a future. “My 16-year-old son is already working in the business. He doesn’t like school, he takes after me; he likes the money better!” Billy quips.
Billy today is 44 years old. Asked whether he ever imagined, as a child, that he would be the successful businessman he is today, Billy replied confidently: “Yes I did.
“I’ve always been business-minded and I always liked to be different. You have to be willing to take big risks and to accommodate the needs of the customers.”
Although he visits Malta yearly and admits that for its size and limitations the country he left 28 years ago has done well, it is clear that the small island could never be sufficient for someone with his vision: “this country here has too much to offer.”
And, recalling his illegal status all those years ago, he admits with a chuckle that at least now, when he leaves Australia, he is allowed to come back.