Wealthy Australian businessman Chris Corrigan has emerged as a key financier in efforts by Boundary Blend, the country’s largest olive oil group, to expand its business in the United States.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the former managing director of the Patrick Corporation is believed to be contributing about half of an estimated $10 million being raised by the olive oil grower and processor, which sells its products under the brand names Cobram Estate and Red Island.
This would not be the first time Corrigan has invested in the agriculture sector; in recent years he has bought up stakes in the walnut and onions group Websters and the Australian Agricultural Company via Kaplan Equity.
Boundary Bend is well known not only for its success in marketing olive oil products but for its innovative approach and contributions to the field of research. Australian olive oil expert Richard Gawel praised the company, saying “[Boundary Bend] have been instrumental in putting affordable, high quality EVOO on Australian supermarket shelves.”
After establishing considerable presence in the European market, the company is now looking to repeat its success in the United States, the third largest consumer of olive oil in the world. Through the proposed expansion, Boundary Bend plans to set up a testing laboratory and processing facility on American soil, where it recognizes a market with huge potential and one that is “counter-seasonal” to the Australian crop.
“We believe we can replicate, in the U.S., the success of our Australian integrated business,” Boundary Bend’s executive chairman Rob McGavin told shareholders recently.
Boundary Bend was the winningest producer at the 2014 New York International Olive Oil Competition, earning three Gold and 2 Best in Class awards for its Cobram Estate brand.
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