Australian onion giant sold for over 7 million Euro

The company Webster Limited has sold its division Field Fresh Tasmania, an Australian onions giant, for over 10 million Australian dollars (7.3 million Euro) to the company Sumich. Webster will now focus completely on its division Walnuts Australia. "The Sumich company had been interested in taking over the onion division for a while. They even bought a warehouse a few years ago. It's a logical extension for them. It's good for our company too. It means we can concentrate more on our walnuts," according to Luc Delabie, who works for Webster.

June 2015
The onion division will still be operational as Field Fresh Tasmania this season and will remain so until the 30th of June 2015. Field Fresh Tasmania expects a good onion harvest. "The onions are growing very well at the moment. Last year the planting and growing conditions weren't as good, but right now they're perfect. The growing weather is ideal and we expect a good quality onion harvest."

Field Fresh Tasmania
Field Fresh Tasmania (FFT) onions are grown on the north western coast of the island Tasmania. Field Fresh Tasmania is part of Webster and has around 50 growers with an average area of 17 hectares per grower. Tasmania is one of the richest agricultural areas in the Southern Hemisphere. Besides onions to Europe, Asia and Australia, the company also supplies walnuts through Walnuts Australia (www.walnutsaustralia.com.au)

Sumich
Sumich is the largest carrot grower in the Southern Hemisphere and is the sales department of the company North East Equity Pty Ltd Trading. Nick Tana, the president of North East Equity Pty Ltd Trading, indicates that the takeover complements the large carrot company. "Field Fresh's most important customers are in Europe and Japan. Our intention is to use our extensive marketing network to develop an even stronger company."

Sumich is not only the largest carrot exporter in the Southern Hemisphere but also the largest carrot grower in Australia. With the addition of FFT it will now also be an important grower and exporter of onions. Sumich started up in 1944 with the export of vegetables to Singapore. Their export market stretches from Japan to South East Asia, Thailand and the Middle-East. They also ship to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. These products in these domestic markets are distributed by partner agents. Sumich has also supplied to the supermarket chain Woolworths for 40 years.

Carrots and onions
Vincent Tana, the general manager of the group, says that they place their focus on high quality. "We have been growing carrots in Tasmania for two years now and are adding Tasmanian onions. So far we have concentrated 100% on carrots as far as fresh products are concerned. We will apply the techniques used in the carrot business in Tasmania on the onions. We want to congratulate Webster for developing such a good company and we are glad to be able to look forward to developing it further. The sale will be officially closed on the 30th of June 2015. Our priority at the moment is to share our enthusiasm and vision for the future with all parties doing business with FFT, including staff and customers," concludes Vincent.