Scalzo Foods to lease Sunraysia dried vine fruit property

One of Australia’s largest dried fruit properties has been leased to family-run business Scalzo Foods.

Sultanas produced by Scalzo Foods at their Nangiloc vineyard, which is opposite Advinco Farm.

AGRICULTURAL property fund Arrow has secured food grower, manufacturer and distributor Scalzo Foods as its new tenant for its Sunraysia dried-fruit property.

Scalzo Foods’ company Golden Dried Fruits has signed a 25-year-lease for the 750ha property, six months after former tenant Murray River Organics shocked investors by exiting its lease just three years into its own 25-year leasing agreement.

Advinco Farm is one of Australia’s largest dried vine fruit properties and its acquisition will turn Scalzo Foods into the nation’s biggest dried grape producer.

Scalzo Foods was founded by Italian migrant Quin Scalzo in 1977. The family-run business now employs about 500 staff and turns over more than $400 million a year from nut, seed, grain, herb, spice, bean and pulse sales and snacking products.

Advinco Farm is opposite Golden Dried Fruits’ existing vineyard in Nangiloc.

The property is in poor health and is expected to take up to five years to produce a commercial quantity of fruit.

Craig Greenwood, chief executive of Australian Premium Dried Fruits, Scalzo’s packing business, said the lease presented the company with a rare opportunity to significantly increase the dried-fruit industry’s output.

“We have huge demand for the product but we can’t supply because we’ve lost a lot of trad­itional growers to other industries,” Mr Greenwood said.

“The opportunity to take on a large-scale property is few and far between. It needs a hell of a lot of work, but to get a property of this size with its infrastructure is a great result for our business.”

Scalzo has supply contracts with more than 60 independent growers and a stake in Duxton Asset Management’s dried-fruit investment, which has two vineyards at Euston and Wemen. Arrow directors said Advinco Farm had been improved significantly in the past six months.

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