JAK Fruit, the Australasian fruit exporter with bases both in Australia and New Zealand, has made a move into farm management with its first orchard acquisition.
The company has purchased a 200-acre (80ha) plantation in Nangiloc, situated in Australia's Sunraysia region, a prime growing district for citrus, grapes and other fruits.
'Our decision to move into farm management is motivated by our desire to integrate backwards along the supply chain to give ourselves greater consistency and continuity of supply,' JAK Fruit's managing director Jason Kotz told Fruitnet.com.
Acquired from a large conglomerate, the property currently comprises table grapes, citrus, almonds and wine grapes, but JAK Fruit plans to convert some of the wine grape plantings to table grapes as well as expanding the citrus plantings going forward, according to Mr Kotz. 'We plan to expand and acquire further orchards in the future,' he added.
JAK Fruit, which is already an established exporter of citrus and grapes from Australia, has self-funded the acquisitions, rather than involving any corporate entity, Mr Kotz noted.
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