AgriNurture income surges, grows all units

Listed agribusiness company AgriNurture Inc. posted a record high income of P216 million in 2011, more than double the P93.5 million recorded in 2010, on the back of the continued growth of all of its business units.

ANI’s consolidated revenue surged by almost 41 percent to P2.25 billion in 2011 from P1.6 billion in 2010.

ANI said its Farming group nearly tripled its total output to post a 87 percent gain in net earnings. Export revenue jumped 121 percent, buoyed by increased sales of bananas to China, resulting in net income gains of 267 percent.

Domestic Trading and Distribution, the company’s historical anchor, posted 21 percent higher revenue and 24 percent more earnings in 2011.

The group supplies fresh produce to the country’s largest retailers like the SM Group, Robinson’s, and PureGold under its fresh brand, “FCA [Fresh Choice Always].”

“We are particularly pleased this year because 2011 marked solid gains in all of the key business units that drive our farm-to-plate model,” said ANI chairman and CEO Antonio L. Tiu, this year’s TOYM awardee for Entrepreneurship. “By far, the year’s outstanding performer was fresh fruit exports, which saw quadruple digit gains in total revenues, mainly by feeding China’s growing appetite for high-quality fresh produce.

The company also made modest forays into retail in 2011, acquiring popular fruit shake retailer The Big Chill Inc. (TBC) during the third quarter. ANI was a supplier to Big Chill before the acquisition, Tiu said.

TBC and ANI’s smaller retail initiatives contributed an aggregate P68 million in revenue, netting P1.7 million in 2011.

ANI said it plans to fold in smaller synergistic retail initiatives into TBC. The company wants to grow TBC’s revenue tenfold over the next five years primarily through the expansion of its product offering using its stable of brands: Superfresh, a chain of fresh fruit shake and dessert kiosks with mid-priced products; The Big Chill and Fresh Bar, a chain of outlets that offer a range of premium fresh fruit shakes and healthy snacks; Canecoctions, a kiosk brand engaged in selling fresh fruit shakes with sugarcane juice; and C’Verde, a vegetarian quick-service restaurant (QSR) concept.

TBC also opened Tully’s Coffee in 2011. Tully’s is a Seattle-based coffee brand known for “hand crafted” coffee brews and artisan food offerings.

Diversifying from the fresh segment, ANI continued to increase its capacity for exporting coconut juice in cans from its IMEX plant in Pulilan, Bulacan. The company entered into a non-exclusive supplier agreement with Vita Coco, the leading fresh coco water brand in the United States, and is exploring suitable locations for its Tetra Pak processing plant for this purpose.

In December 2011, the company concluded negotiations for an equity infusion from Black River Capital Partners Fund (Food) LP, an independently managed fund affiliated with Minneapolis-based Cargill group, one of the world’s largest food and agriculture conglomerates.

The fund invested $30.45 million in ANI and now controls 28.11 percent of the company.