This family business is blooming

It's also the birthplace of Craig Musson, founder and chief executive of Wafex, a multi-faceted, international flower company which calls Western Australia home.

In 1991, Craig Musson and his wife, Michelle, came to Perth from Zimbabwe following rising political tension within the southern African country.

But when they arrived, Mr Musson, who was a chrysanthemum grower working with Michelle's father Peter, was newly unemployed.

His first job in Perth was on a rose farm in the Swan Valley, however on Christmas Eve, the effects of WA's recession took hold, and he was made redundant.

For the first six months and mostly out of work, Mr Musson wondered if he made the right decision moving to Perth, especially since the Zimbabwe economy was in a growth period.

Desperate and downcast, Peter suggested Mr Musson import flowers from his farm in Zimbabwe to sell in WA.

Mr Musson said flowers were really only available during the warmer months in WA - and outside of that - options were limited.

It was a great opportunity to bring some of the finest flowers into WA - and better yet - no one else was doing it.

What Mr Musson really wanted to do was export flowers and, at the time, Geraldton wax was having a moment in the spotlight, being grown and shipped from WA.

In the early years, Wafex was a simple business - exporting Australian natives and importing roses.

Now it is a multifaceted, global company located in four countries, with 170 employees and three separate businesses which fall under the Wafex umbrella.

Up until the 1990s, Geraldton waxflower genetics were poor and supplies were grown from propagated wild, native waxflower varieties.

The flowers only came in three colours - pink, white and purple - had a short flowering season and were low yielding.

In 2008, these problems were identified by the WA Department of Agriculture, which approached the floriculture industry to match its funding to research waxflower genetics - but growers declined.

"It was probably the most disappointing decision I've ever been involved in or heard of," Mr Musson said.

"We stepped into that space, because we could see the value in breeding.

"The genetics for waxflower are in Western Australia, we are the world's centre for waxflower genetics," he said.

The same year, Helix was launched in partnership with Kings Park Botanic Garden, to research and breed the best genetics for waxflowers and boronia varieties as cut flowers and pot plants.

Thanks to the research, new varieties of waxflowers bloom from May to December, as opposed to July to September.

They also have a longer vase life, come in more colours, have longer stems and are higher yielding.

New varieties of waxflower are now grown all over the world, including South Africa, Portugal and the United States.

"I keep saying I'm still looking for a red waxflower that smells like a rose for Valentine's Day," Mr Musson said.

"That's what we're trying to do, coming up with something that will revolutionise the industry."

The new varieties were introduced to growers in WA too, however the workforce had hit a lull.

"We realised we had to become growers as well," Mr Musson said.

The first of three farms to be purchased and owned by Wafex was at Regan's Ford, which was started in 2009 and planted waxflowers.

In 2016, land near Bunbury was acquired for proteas and leucadendrons and, in 2016, another at Bindoon was bought for banksias.

Each week, Wafex sells between 3000-5000 bouquets of Australian native flowers, all featuring a banksia and so the third farm was a means of securing their best selling bouquets.

The processing takes place in West Swan, with flowers coming in daily straight off the farms in WA, Ecuador, and Kenya.

Fresh cut flowers are packed into bouquets and delivered to supermarkets or exported.

Mr Musson said the best roses come from Ecuador.

They're grown at high altitude, 4000 metres above sea level, in a cool climate and close to the equator.

To minimise waste, Wafex tries to support different markets and demands.

It all happens in the value-add shed, where seconds are kept and dried.

During special times of the year, such as Christmas, Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day, the dyeing room is filled with racks of flowers dyed red.

Tinting and dyeing flowers happens all year and uses a simple dye akin to food colouring.

Mr Musson studied agriculture at the Dookie Agricultural College in Victoria for three years, based on an enjoyment of growing things.

"I didn't know much about flowers, I just liked growing things," he said.

This gave him a good understanding of the Australian climate.

"It was a pretty easy adjustment for me," Mr Musson said.

"I struggled with the amount of sand, I've never seen so much sand in my life.

"I couldn't believe you could grow flowers in the amount of sand we've got, but our wildflowers love sandy soil."

Mr Musson's two children, Ryan, 30 and Kerryn, 27, are also involved in the business and he said working with them every day was a highlight.

Both were born while Wafex was in its early stages.

"That was a very busy time, they all played sports and Michelle and I were always coaching and playing," Mr Musson said.

"Michelle is a hockey player, so she was coaching them in hockey in winter and I was coaching Ryan in cricket in summer.

"They were very full-on days, but great fun as well."

Developing an international export business prior to the internet meant putting a lot of hours into travelling and building relationships face-to-face.

"I think I spent a quarter of the year travelling, but I've always strongly believed that, particularly in our industry, it's very much about relationships," he said.

In 2022, Mr Musson shared his 30-year Wafex journey in a biography, entitled Life, Lessons and Learnings.

"It's about the practical mistakes I've made and what I learned from it, so other people who are starting their own business can learn from the mistakes I made," he said.

"When I started the business, I was 26, and had no business experience at all."

There were plenty of mistakes and hard times, but Mr Musson said he remembers early on during the pandemic and the week of the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States in 2001 as some of the worst.

The US shut down the borders and then Ansett - the airline which was used to freight the exports - went into receivership in 2002.

"We had all of this product coming off the farms, our biggest market in the US was shut and we couldn't even move product around Australia because Ansett shut," Mr Musson said.

"We just had flowers pouring into the place with nowhere to sell them to."

No one invests years of time, energy and money into a flower they feel indifferent about.

It's no surprise that Mr Musson's favourite flower is the Geraldton waxflower.

"It's a very beautiful flower, but it's also the cornerstone on which we built the business," he said.