Tasmanian cherry company Reid Fruits up for sale
Reid Fruits Managing Director Tim Reid said the business now has 136ha of cherries under cultivation, with current production representing almost 10% of the Australian cherry industry. In 2017 Reid Fruits accounted for close to 20% of the total Australian cherry exports with the company the largest single Australian exporter into Japan, Korea, Thailand and India.
“Reid Fruits has developed a phenomenal reputation in Asia for the quality of our cherries,” Mr Reid said.
“We have our main orchards in the Derwent Valley and in recent years have developed a late harvest, 36ha orchard at Jericho, which includes 4ha of orchard under a retractable roof.”
Mr Reid said recent investment had seen $4.5 million spent at its new Jericho orchard, with a further $3 million planned investment in upgrading plant at the company’s packhouse facility in Huonville for the 2017-18 season.
“The business is now at a stage where we will grow two or three-fold in terms of production. Now is the ideal time for a new owner to come on board and drive the growth opportunities we have created.”
Mr Reid, who turns 65 this year, has been working in the industry for the past 50 years, since starting in Reid Fruits apple orchards stacking boxes as a 15-year-old schoolboy. Reid Fruits celebrated its 160th anniversary in the Tasmanian fruit industry in 2016.
“The company has reinvented itself a couple of times in that period; in the 1970s we lost the UK market and planted new apple varieties for Asian market. Then in the late 1990s we transitioned our business to cherries, moving into the Derwent Valley in 2000 with our first cherry orchard.”
Mr Reid, who was named AM in the Order of Australia and Australian Export Hero in 2007 and Australian Farmer of the Year in 2013, said he was proud of what the entire cherry industry does for the Tasmanian economy.
“The amount of money the cherry industry brings into and invests in the State is significant … through agricultural merchandise, packaging, engineering services and framing services … and for the majority, the money we earn is reinvested in the continued growth of our businesses.”
Mr Reid said he expects the EOI process to be finalised in late October/November.
“If we don’t get a reasonable bid for the company, we will keep it going because the market growth opportunity for the entire industry is very good. The demand for Australian cherries internationally is predicted to have an accumulative annual growth of 31% for 2016-21.
“The market for high-quality, wonderful tasting fruit is already there. But the health attributes of cherries and their juice is only just being realised and that will create further opportunities for growth in the Asian market.”
For more information:
A.Mark Thomas
M&M Communications
Tel: 0422 006 732