Australian produce company Costa Group today announced its acquisition of Lankester Avocado orchards and packing operations from the Lankester family.
Costa has set itself the target of being Australia’s biggest supplier of avocados and this deal will see three Queensland farms join its business.
Lankester has 130 hectares of avocados, with an additional 60 hectares to be planted within the next year. The firm also undertakes packing and marketing activity for third-party growers.
The Lankester family will remain with the business to perform management and operational roles.
Costa Group CEO Harry Debney said: “With the current circa 370 hectares of avocados Costa has in central Queensland and the South Australian Riverland, this acquisition will bring the company’s total plantings to circa 500 hectares and allow us to continue to build our production scale.
“The Lankester family have been in the Atherton region for many years and they have built their business into one that has a strong market presence with opportunity for future growth, which Costa found to be an attractive proposition when considering our next avocado investment.”
The acquisition is expected be completed by the end of the month. The price of the deal has not been publicly disclosed.
Costa operates in five core categories: berries, mushrooms, citrus, glasshouse tomatoes and avocados. Operations include more than 3,500 planted hectares of farmland, 30 hectares of glasshouse and seven mushroom growing facilities across Australia.
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