Fruit boss Bill Kollatos flies after In2food’s resurrection

The boss of a national fruit and vegetable distribution business will leave after a job-saving deal resurrected the business.

Bill Kollatos, pictured when he was chief executive of Yarra Valley Farms, is leaving In2food after it was sold.

The boss of a national fruit and vegetable distribution business will leave after a job-saving deal resurrected the business.

In2food chief executive Bill Kollatos will part ways with the company in three months’ time following a handover to new owners Produce Republic.

“I never had a doubt it was going to sell,” Mr Kollatos said.

“The most important thing is that something has happened that has kept my people employed, kept the business going and maintained competition.”

The entrepreneur, who owned five per cent of In2food before it was sold this week, helped create the national distribution business from its original base in Victoria.

He built the business from his original franchise venture Yarra Valley Farms.

The national company was sold to Woolworths Holdings South Africa, not linked to the Australian supermaket chain, but it went bust following losses linked to Covid-19 restrictions.

The price of the sale, which was announced on Monday, has remained confidential, but leaked documents showed that the companies debts outweighed its assets.

Bill Kollatos with his team of drivers and trucks.

Mr Kollatos confirmed he would move on following the sale, which came after the business went broke, with administrators appointed on August 13.

“I’m going to have an advisory role, I’ll stay on for three months,” he said.

“I’m really happy pople will stay employed and that it has been sold as a national business.”

At least 400 jobs were saved because of the sale to Produce Republic, which owns the Aussie Frozen Fruit brand sold in supermarkets.

The company, based in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, purchased In2food following a series of Zoom tours of its national facilities because of lockdown travel restrictions.

In2food has sites in every state in Australia except for Tasmania and was a key supplier to cafes, restaurants, catering companies, airlines and cruise ships.

The lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne smashed the business this year.

And the company’s move into ready-to-eat meals in a partnership with upmarket retailer David Jones failed.

That section of the business was dumped as part of the sale to Produce Republic.

Leaked documents showed that In2food received $9.4 million in JobKeeper payments in the 2021 financial year.

An In2food worker at its Darwin base. Picture: KATRINA BRIDGEFORD.

More than three quarters of the companies sales were in fresh fruit and vegetables, while prepared food made up just six per cent of revenue.

However, industry sources claim that there was potential in the ready-to-eat market, which are popular in Marks and Spencer outlets in the UK.

That’s despite the Australian habit of buying large weekly grocery orders at supermarkets.

Vaughan Strawbridge, receiver at FTI Consulting who co-ordinated the sale, said this week that hte sale was a good result.

“The business is now well placed, focusing back on its core, and positioned to recover strongly as state border restrictions open back up the industries of key customers,” he said.

“Produce Republic brings some great capability which, cemented with the In2Food team, we are confident will see the business improve strongly as the economy recovers, building real strength in the industry.”

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