German agribusiness BayWa AG (DE: BYW6) took on several new overseas projects last year through its New Zealand-based subsidiary Turners & Growers (NZX: TUR), but now it plans to apply its diversification strategy closer to home. 

During the trade fair Fruit Logistica in Berlin yesterday, company representatives told www.freshfruitportal.com BayWa was planting a T&G apple variety that had already witnessed success in Europe, while it would also be on the hunt for fresh acquisitions in the EU.

"We are planting 50,000 Jazz [apple] trees in Weisenheim with growers from our cooperative," said BayWa fruit general manager Christiane Bell.

"It's part of our strategy. At BayWa we are partnering with Turners & Growers, so how can it be that Germany is the only blank spot on the map when it comes to growing Jazz? That's now coming in.

"The American grower is much quicker usually in responding to market demands than the German grower, but that's how we tie in well together, because with our growers we make sure the productivity is there and it's our job as marketers to be the bridge between them and the consumer. That's where we bring in new varieties like Jazz and Kanzi."

Last year, T&G acquired New Zealand-based Apollo Apples and it also launched a joint venture with Unifrutti Chile in Peru.

When asked about the new structure of BayWa's fruit division, CEO Klaus Lutz described it as a process-oriented and new technology-oriented optimization of the "most important apple site in Germany".

"It's very simple, and also from the European point of view this is very important for the retailers," he said.

"This is also somehow an example of what should be the best in class for New Zealand as well, because we have to invest and change the infrastructure in New Zealand as too.

"This is one of the rationales of our Apollo transaction, and this is not the end of the story. We are looking for new targets that are cheap, very profitable, have high revenue, with good people and not so far away."

When asked about potential countries on the radar, Lutz said he'd be looking for acquisitions in the European community to expand the fruit business.

"And it's not apple-oriented alone. The first thing is that we are one of the key apple growers, but in terms of internationalization, diversification and risk sharing, that's what we started with in New Zealand with kiwifruit, table grapes and some berries in the Southern Hemisphere where we are very local and very profitable.

"We will try to become one of the key players in the green asparagus business worldwide. Looking looking to that picture, Christiane is starting the process with our M&A [mergers and acquisitions] department...we are trying to also diversify our product portfolio a bit on home turf which doesn't mean 10 different new products, but besides apples it'll be something else which is profitable and where we have risk sharing."

Photo: Jazz apples, via Wikimedia Creative Commons

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