This year’s second quarter has brought exciting news for global variety developer Sun World. The firm successfully enforced its licensing rights against a handful of infringers all over the world and recently announced its acquisition of South African Plant Breeders Rights (PBRs) managing company Biogold.

To better understand how the recent purchase plays out on Sun World’s growth strategy, we hoped on a Teams call with CEO David Marguleas. The executive explained that the joining of the two teams is occurring in South Africa “as we speak”, and that they’re in the process of moving into a new combined office together in the Western Cape, Stellenbosch.

“The Biogold acquisition is certainly incredibly meaningful as it effectively doubles our variety portfolio, we hope it trebles our value to our growers," he said. "It's also emblematic of Sun World's significant growth over the last five years or so."

A key player in the field, Sun World has been breeding table grapes and stone fruit for decades. Additionally, at the behest of its licensed clients in places like Europe, South America, and South Africa, the firm developed an in-house breeding program for citrus and mango crops.

It was then that the firm came across Biogold’s mango breeding program in South Africa.

“We saw this as a wonderful opportunity to merge and bring two like-minded groups with similar approaches to genetics and customer and growers support, together,” Marguleas said.

Back row: Viresh Ramburan (Biogold), Simon Heyrick (Sun World International)
Front row: Iraj Abedian (Biogold), Abs Van Rooyen (Biogold), David Marguleas (Sun World International), Bernardo Calvo (Sun World International)

A grower’s POV

Starting out as a grower in California, Sun World disrupted the produce business by introducing new proprietary fruits and vegetables to an industry accustomed to commodities. This “grower-like” mentality continues to inform the company’s current efforts in plant development.

“And with that (mentality) comes an appreciation for not only the important consumer traits of flavor and texture and variety but also the important characteristics that create sustainability for growers as they grow our grape vines and citrus or mango trees" Marguleas emphasized.

In Biogold, he added, Sun World’s team has found a like-minded ally for its “service-oriented, grower-centric, but, above all, fun to work with” business model.

“We work in a very specialized industry," he added. "At the heart of it is a desire to not only have fun, but to make sure that we keep the growers' priorities and needs top of mind."

As South African growers struggle with load-shedding, Marguleas does not say this lightly. While he stressed that his company does not have “any specific power remedies in mind for our team members in South Africa,” he said he firmly believes in the resilience of the produce industry.  

“The produce industry has long faced and conquered several challenges relating to weather and infrastructure and the supply chain, and South Africa is no different”.

Appetite for innovation

With Sun World’s sights set on conquering new crops, 2025 holds major plans for the company.

“There have been leapfrogs in the science employed at our Center for Innovation, that’s leading to an acceleration of process and discovery,” Marguleas anticipated, adding that there’s a “number of new releases of both table grape and mango varieties in the months and years ahead.” 

Mangoes that have early ripening characteristics, very late ripening traits, and table grape varieties with unique flavor profiles that are in response to consumer demand for unusual and more flavorful fruit varieties, the executive said, are some of the projects in the works.

“Coupling that with the advances we believe can be made through the smart application of AI and data in the years ahead, leads us to believe we’re on the cusp of a 'Golden Age of Breeding,’” Marguleas added. “Sun World’s longtime innovation posture, plus the emerging science and technologies I mentioned, are powerful accelerants that are made for this moment. And of course, harnessing this progress to work toward ever more climate-resilient varieties, is at the heart of our mission”.

Growers that were excited about the table grapes and stone fruit that Sun World brought to them, “they've got a real treat coming to them with regard to the additional citrus and subtropical crops that we'll be introducing,” Marguleas teased.

Marguleas shared that they’ve had several calls from retailers in Europe, the United States, and Asia, in particular, that have expressed “tremendous enthusiasm” for accessing new citrus varieties and new mango varieties. Categories that, he mentioned, haven't seen much innovation in recent years.

“So it's been fun fielding those calls and certainly speaks to the appetite at retail for more innovation in the produce section,” he concluded.