The exclusive blueberry licence agreement represents one of the biggest collections of proprietary commercial and pre-commercial blueberry varieties in the world and is the result of an agreement between T&G and Plant & Food Research in New Zealand. The arrangement includes varieties developed by Plant & Food Research and a collection of premium varieties from Fall Creek Farm and Nursery in Oregon, USA, for which Plant & Food Research holds the Australian licensing rights.
T&G’s Executive General Manager International, Sarah McCormack says T&G currently trades large volumes of berries from North and South America, New Zealand and Australia and is a grower in its own right.
“T&G now has the exclusive rights to grow 16 of Plant & Food Research and Fall Creek varieties in Australia which we are very excited about,” she says. “Fall Creek is a significant global player in blueberry breeding and propagation, and Plant & Food Research have had some real success in breeding blueberries for temperate climates.”
This new agreement will allow T&G to drive further growth in one of its key categories and key markets through managing the supply chain from plant propagation to plant distribution and marketing.
“The portfolio includes Northern and Southern highbush varieties, as well as Rabbiteye which will suit a range of growing climates and market windows. This new suite will allow us to grow for, and export from Australia, which complements our existing growing and marketing operations in New Zealand. There is a good mix of varieties which are proven internationally, and we also have some really promising varieties which are yet to be commercially released.”
Sarah says T&G has already received interest from growers wanting to plant them.
“We are looking to work with growers across all Australian states as the varieties are very adaptive to different growing conditions. We’re primarily looking for partners who like T&G adhere to SQF-Harps growing principles and share our commitment to ethical and sustainable growing,” she adds.
T&G expects the first plants to be available in early 2018, and will scale up
production for commercial plantings from 2019.David Hughes, Group General Manager Commercial for Plant & Food Research says, “This arrangement is a natural evolution of our very successful and longstanding commercial licensing relationships with Fall Creek Farm and Nursery and T&G.
T&G’s General Manager Diversified Horticulture, Damien Gibson, led the discussions with Plant and Food Research over the new agreement over the past 12 months and says it’s exciting to see it coming to fruition.
“We’re fortunate to have a long established and successful commercial partnership with Plant & Food Research,” Damien says “Together we’re leveraging the fundamentals of that relationship across to the berry category. Plant & Food Research have been proactive in getting a lot of the pre-commercial work completed, so we’re in a strong position to build from that.”
To support the investment further, T&G has appointed a new Commercial Manager of berries based in Australia. Danny Nightingale is based in Brisbane and will be actively working with local growers.
Strengthened ties with Montague
T&G Global has strengthened its relationship with long-term partner, Montague, based in Victoria, Australia. Montague is Australia’s leading producer and distributor of stone fruit. The two companies have enjoyed a positive commercial relationship for 15 years with Montague managing T&G’s JAZZ™ and Envy™ apples under license for the Australian market. That arrangement has now been extended through a memorandum of understanding that will see T&G become the official export partner for Montague stone fruit brands – CROC EGGS and the MONTAGUE tree.
T&G and Montague will celebrate their extended partnership with drinks at T&G’s stand at AsiaFruit Logistica in Hong Kong next Wednesday (6 September) from 3.30pm.
Sarah is excited about the new agreement which she says will benefit all parties including customers.
“Montague is known for producing extremely high quality stone fruit including their own PVRs and we are pleased to have the opportunity to build their brands across Asia as we have done with our own brands.
“Our strengthened partnership will open up new export markets for their growing volume of fruit across our global network including China which Australia recently gained access to for stone fruit.”
Scott Montague, Executive Director and General Manager Retail for Montague, says his family, and their growing partners, are equally excited about the heightened partnership given T&G’s global reach and growing and marketing heritage.
“Asia is a huge, diverse market. This partnership with T&G will ensure that our products enter this growing market via the best credentialed importers and distributors.”
Under the agreement, T&G will sell and market Montague stone fruit offshore with the support of its in market offices in Asia.
The agreement is subject to the parties finalising formal legal documents, which they expect to do shortly.
For more information: Jo Jalfon
T&G Global
Tel: + 64 27 201 2645
joanne.jalfon@tandg.global
www.tandg.global