Bega Cheese nuts about the spread

BEGA Cheese plans to put more Aussie peanuts into its peanut butter.

Bega plans to use more locally grown peanuts in its newly-acquired peanut butter product.

BEGA Cheese plans to put more Aussie peanuts into its peanut butter.

Company chairman Barry Irvin travelled across southern Queensland last week telling peanut growers Bega wants to double peanut production in the state.

Bega Cheese advised the Australian Securities Exchange on Friday it had acquired 87.7 per cent of shares in the Peanut Company of Australia and expected to move to 90 per cent by today.

That would allow Bega to compulsorily mop up any remaining shares in PCA.

PCA began as a farmer co-operative in 1924 but was privatised in 1992, with many shareholders peanut growers.

Bega Cheese bought the Kraft peanut butter brand as part of a package of food products, including Vegemite, acquired from US food and beverage giant Mondelez International in January.

It has rebadged the Kraft peanut butter under its Bega brand.

Bega Cheese chief executive Paul van Heerwaarden said it sourced its peanuts for peanut butter production from Argentina and Australia.

Mr van Heerwaarden said up to 50 per cent of the company’s peanut needs came from Australia, but this was sometimes as low as 25 per cent.

“We want to move to as close to 100 per cent Australian peanuts as we can as soon as we can,” he said.

“We certainly think we can get to 100 per cent but it might take a couple of years.”

Mr van Heerwaarden said peanuts were grown as a summer rotation for other crops, such as sugar cane.

He said cane growers could gain a 20 per cent yield boost in their crops when planted after peanuts.

Mr van Heerwaarden said the support Bega had received for buying PCA centred on “having confidence in the company who is going to buy your crop”.

“We have a history of supporting local farmers in converting their product into high-quality consumer goods, which we have been doing in dairy for many years now,” he said.

“We are looking at doing something similar for peanuts.”