Australia’s largest banana producer for sale

AUSTRALIA, 14 AUGUST 2023 - With a 75-year history of family farming, Mackay Farming Group is offering to market a portfolio of its’ nine premium farms across the Tully and Lakeland regions of Far North Queensland. The Group’s total farming operations are being offered for sale.

JLL’s Agribusiness team of Chris Holgar, Geoff Warriner, Clayton Smith and Jock Grimshaw have been appointed by Mackay Farming Group to sell the portfolio by Expressions of Interest.

JLL’s Senior Director, Agribusiness, Chris Holgar said, “The Mackay Family is synonymous with horticulture in Far North Queensland and have a successful 75-year history of building their banana (and tropical fruit enterprise) from small beginnings to being Australia’s largest banana producer. The portfolio supplies approximately 13% of Australia’s banana production, with distribution to Australia’s major supermarkets.

“The Mackay family has strategically amassed nine individual land holdings for banana production and other tropical fruits such as red papaya, coffee, and cacao and other crops now being introduced. In addition to fruit production, large scale sugarcane plantings and a complementary beef cattle enterprise are included,” said Mr Holgar.

Mackay’s Marketing, which was established over 20 years ago, is not included in the portfolio. Mackay’s Marketing was established to manage the logistics from the farm gate direct to major retail partners, Coles, Woolworths and more recently to Aldi. This business also provides marketing services to other large family-owned producers in FNQ, in addition to managing the supply chain for Mackay’s farms.

CEO of Mackay Farming Group, Alex Hutton said, “We are offering a farming and production portfolio which began when Stanley Mackay planted his first crop of bananas in 1945. With the Tully farms underpinning the operation, the Mackay Family made a conscious decision to establish a risk mitigation strategy with the addition and development of Gold Tyne in the Lakeland region. This has provided a unique balance capitalising on ideal growing conditions across two regions with the security of mitigating biosecurity risks and having a much higher likelihood of production being uninterrupted in the case of extreme weather events to which the traditional coastal production areas are occasionally prone.

“We have a strong commitment to sustainable farming practices, working with nature whenever possible to protect the environment, optimising nutrition, and plant health. The Group farms are currently being audited to ensure carbon sequestration strategies also deliver optimal results.

“Surplus banana production is not wasted, with the development of freezing operations in Tully, which process an increasing volume of packed frozen bananas. This integrated operation ships processed goods to a new customer base which has been developed in recent years,” said Mr Hutton.

History of the Mackay Farming Group - https://mackays.com.au/

Stanley Mackay was recognised for his pioneering role in the Australian Banana Industry in 1985 with an Order of Australia Medal.