Supagas sets its FY27 focus

With cost pressures, shifting supply conditions and changing customer expectations influencing the gas market, Supagas is concentrating on the systems, infrastructure and partnerships needed to serve customers more effectively and support sustainable growth.

“While we’re always working to improve how we support our customer base, this year they’re going to see a real step-change in how the company operates,” says Supagas Managing Director Erol Arican, describing the company’s focus for FY27.

Customer experience is the central theme. Arican says the company is now completing final testing on a new website, scheduled for launch in June, designed to give customers improved self-service options and clearer visibility of their activity. For households and businesses, the goal is a simpler way to manage their gas needs and access information quickly.

“It’s not just a new look website,” Arican says. “It’s really an enabler for ongoing improvement in how we communicate and how customers interface with the business. That’s important to us, it sets up Supagas for the future, not just for now.”

A new CRM platform is also planned for later this year. When introduced, it will connect with phone systems to create more consistent customer processes and a stronger base for service support. Over time, Arican says these investments will also support automation and AI integration.

“We’re a very seasonal business,” he says. “One of the challenges is making sure that when volume peaks, service doesn’t drop away. That’s really what some of these investments are about – giving us the ability to handle those periods better and sustain a high level of service all year round.”

Capability backed by investment

Beyond customer-facing technology, Supagas is also investing in its physical capacity. Major CO2 projects that began last year are now nearing completion, with two plants expected to come online this year. The investment builds on Supagas’s established CO2 work in hospitality while extending capability into bulk CO2 for food applications.

For Supagas, the aim is not simply expansion. It is strengthening supply certainty in a market that has faced sustained pressure.

“Our focus on CO2 isn’t new, has been a key focus for over 10 years.,” he says. “What’s changing now is that we’re adding to that production capability and using it to support a broader customer base. Customers are looking for certainty, and they can see commitment and ongoing investment from Supagas.”

The company’s evolving partnership and integration with Coregas is part of the same broader direction. Following parent company Nippon Sanso’s (NSHD) acquisition of Coregas, Supagas sees the value in combining practical strengths: technical expertise, production capacity, distribution reach and a more complete customer offer.

“The group has an incredible depth of knowledge and technology, and we’re focused on unlocking and sharing it more effectively than ever before,” Arican says. “A big part of the journey we’re on is finding ways to collaborate with Coregas to make the most of our complementary capabilities to deliver the best solutions for Australians.”

For customers, that shared capability can support more complex applications, expand available supply options and strengthen Supagas’s role as a single supplier across LPG and industrial gases.

Stronger local networks and support

Although Supagas will in future draw more on its parent group’s wider capabilities, Arican says the business remains focused on local decision-making and region-specific service.

“NSHD is a global group, and that gives us technical expertise, systems and support structures,” he says. “But ultimately, Supagas is managed locally. We make decisions locally based on local conditions, local communities and local customer needs.”

That principle is backed by ongoing investment in the company’s distribution footprint. With fuel, freight and supply conditions continuing to shift, Supagas is building a more decentralised model through additional branches, depot upgrades, increased storage and expanded fleet capacity.

Recent depot upgrades in Hobart and on the Sunshine Coast are part of this work, along with new LPG and CO2 transport assets entering the network.

“We’ve been investing for a long time in having a decentralised distribution network,” he says. “With an expanded and decentralised local network, we can respond quicker when conditions change. In the current environment, that resilience is very important.”

For Supagas, that local network helps reduce pressure across supply chains and creates more flexibility when customer requirements change. It is also central to the company’s role in regional communities, where reliable gas supply is tied to daily continuity.

“Ultimately, energy security is critical for our customers,” Arican says. “You want to make sure people can always cook, take a hot shower, stay warm and that businesses can keep operating. When there are gas network closures – as there have been in several communities recently – our role is to help those affected transition to a new solution as simply as possible – and provide a solution that fits their local circumstances.

Supagas also sees local support as extending beyond ensuring a great product and service. Through community initiatives, practical support during floods, fires and other disruptions, and locally informed engagement, the company links its presence in regional markets with its ‘Yes We Can’ approach.

With a busy FY27 underway, the measure of success is practical rather than abstract.

So, what does a strong year look like for the Managing Director’s?

“For me, success in FY27 is about seeing key foundational projects delivered and performing well. That means our CO2 projects are supporting the market effectively, our new website and CRM are improving the customer experience, and we’re giving our teams more time to focus on customer needs. If we can do that, I’d see that as a very strong year for Supagas.”