Leading Australian fresh produce company Carter & Spencer Group, and agricultural giant Bundaberg Sugar Ltd have announced a partnership to form Bundaberg Fresh.
The new company will grow, pack and market sweet potatoes and other fresh produce crops utilising Bundaberg Sugar’s extensive farming assets in the region.
Carter & Spencer Group managing director Craig Spencer said it's a perfect match.
“We needed to increase our sweet potato growing footprint in the Bundaberg region, where good land is becoming increasingly difficult to secure,” he said.
“At the same time, Bundaberg Sugar who have been growing sweet potatoes and other crops for growers and packers in the region, were wanting to expand production and have more visibility in the sales and marketing of their product.”
Bundaberg Sugar chief executive Guy Basile said the new venture was a “logical fit”.
“Carter & Spencer is a highly respected Australian family owned business which brings 84 years of growing, packing and marketing experience to the table,” he said.
“Likewise Bundaberg Sugar, owned by the Lippens family in Belgium, is a diverse business which among other things undertakes growing, refining, packing and marketing of sugar domestically and internationally.
“We are very excited with the opportunities Bundaberg Fresh brings, firstly with sweet potatoes, followed by other lines we have already identified that we can add value to.
“This diversity assists with our sugar cane crop rotation and the overall wellbeing of our land.
“In any joint venture, compatible culture and values are paramount. Both businesses share common attributes and both have hands on management structures that expedite decision making.”
Bundaberg Fresh will commence supply in January 2021 with new-season sweet potatoes.
Carter & Spencer will continue to market its other core categories such as citrus, ginger, pineapples, peas and eggfruit.
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