| 65 T T Kim Newth Group focused on leading change Darling Group proactively invests in innovation and is leading industry change across the board, from change in industry practice right through to change in export strategies. HORTICULTURE Darling Group From starting out as a kiwifruit worker on the packhouse floor more than 40 years ago, Andrew Darling has turned his passion for horticulture into an intergenerational New Zealand business success story. The company he founded in 2016, Darling Group, is flourishing as an agile grower, packer and exporter of premium fresh produce. Darling Group is a significant supplier of nutritious avocados and citrus in the New Zealand market and runs a vertically integrated chain from orchard to harvest, packing, domestic sale and export. “Having that vertical integration is essential for growth and you also need to have scale,” observes Andrew, who leads Darling Group today as managing director. “We have supply from orchards from the Bay of Plenty to the Coromandel and the Far North.” Operating under the Darling Group umbrella are a number of companies: Zeafruit, a prominent NZ fresh fruit marketer; Avoworks, providing premium avocado orchard services; Just Avocados, an avocado-centric NZ operation involved in all aspects of the industry; and Brisbane-based produce wholesaler and distributor JH Leavy & Co. Andrew’s sons Jacob and Nathan - both university graduates with industry experience - have joined the family business and are now helping to shape its strategic direction. Jacob is CEO of Darling Group Australia (JH Leavy & Co) while Nathan is General Manager of Avoworks, which employs 60 permanent staff and up to 140 at seasonal peak. “Our Australia based business is the largest part of our group currently and is a significant cross border service provider from import and export to third party logistics, inspection/ fumigation, pre-packing and ripening and we do that across 40 different produce categories including melon, mango, citrus, avocado and tomatoes. That business has grown substantially over the last three years.” Darling Group proactively invests in innovation and is leading industry change across the board, from change in industry practice right through to change in export strategies. For example, over the past two years Darling Group has honed a 12-month supply strategy to enhance their reach and boost global market relevance. “As a supplier and exporter of avocados from New Zealand, we realised that we simply could not produce a large enough volume to be significant in the international market. That’s why it became important to have a 12-month supply strategy that involved sourcing avocado from around North America, South America and Australia to supplement our supply to customers. That has been a real success and is bringing value to the group and the sector.” Meanwhile, when the Australian market looked set to deliver unsustainable returns for the 2023-24 season due to oversupply, Darling Group quickly pivoted to secure the first export consignment of NZ avocados to Canada. The company has a focused strategy targeting ongoing export growth into North America and Asia. Darling Group currently dominates New Zealand exports of avocado by volume into China and Canada, with a growing presence also in Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand. Booster’s Tahi Limited Partnership - a special investment fund that backs the growth aspirations of Kiwi businesses - holds a minority shareholding in Darling Group. With that backing, Darling Group is confident of ongoing growth. The support is facilitating faster processing and packing as well as broadening the products distributed by the group’s Australian operation. Attwoods – The Packaging People With 70+ years in the packaging game, we’re looking to stay as leaders in this sector with industrial products and Leading-Edge innovation. TAPES LABELS ADHESIVES PROTECTIVE PACKAGING SECURING AND BUNDLING HYGIENE PRODUCTS SAFETY PRODUCTS LEADING THE WAY TOGETHER WITH VENTILATED PALLET WRAP EC Attwood Ltd, 5/130 Newton Street, Mount Maunganui, 07 572 0290, salesmt@attwoods.co.nz PROUD SUPPLY PARTNERS TO DARLING GROUP
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=