April 3, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Ontario Teachers’) has acquired a controlling majority stake in Mitolo Family Farms, the largest potato grower in Australia, through its Australian agriculture subsidiary AustOn Corporation. 

Operating 26 farms across South Australia and New South Wales, Mitolo Family Farms is a vertically integrated grower, harvester, and marketer of potatoes and onions, selling 11 brands of potatoes – including a lower-carb potato variety sold under the Charisma brand – to Woolworths, Aldi, and Coles supermarkets. 

The family-owned company, which is headquartered on the Adelaide Plains north of Adelaide, has grown over the past 50-plus years to now employ 700 people and generate annual sales of approximately $280 million. 

Once the transaction is closed on June 30, Mitolo Family Farms will continue to operate under its legacy name, with the family retaining a “significant ownership stake” in the company with Frank Mitolo remaining in his role as managing director, and John and Darren Mitolo staying in their respective leadership positions. 

“The next steps in our growth trajectory will require additional capital to enter into new markets and pursue strategies that will help us profitably respond to emerging trends in agriculture and food manufacturing,” said Frank Mitolo. 

“The family realized that the additional capital would require partnering with the right investor who understands the cyclical and long-term nature of agriculture, and we believe Ontario Teachers’ is the ideal partner with which to take the business forward.”

AustOn

From its offices in Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, San Francisco, Singapore, and Toronto, Ontario Teachers’ is a global investor with a presence in more than 50 countries with net assets of $247.2 billion as of December 31, 2022 which it manages to deliver retirement income for 336,000 members and pensioners. 

Since its founding in 1990, the plan has earned an annual total-fund net return of 9.5 percent through a broad array of assets including public and private equities, fixed income, credit, commodities, natural resources, infrastructure, real estate, and venture growth. 

It was five years ago that Ontario Teachers’ launched AustOn as an agricultural asset unit in the country. Over the ensuing years, the subsidiary has acquired an impressive portfolio of holdings including a collective of four family-owned apple orchards in the Goulburn Valley that were merged into a new entity called Pomona Valley, totaling more than 500 hectares (1,235.5 acres), water rights, two packing houses – OzPac run by the Varapodios family, and Integrity Fruit run by M J Hall and Sons – and additional land in Ardmona, Tatura, Mooroopna, and Toolamba.

It also had acquired Jasper Farms, the second largest avocado producer in the country, which at the time of the deal in 2017 included 82,000 trees across 220 hectares and more nearly mature trees on another tract of land of approximately the same size, and Aroona Farms, a major almond grower in South Australia and Victoria. 

In regard to its latest addition to the portfolio, Ontario Teachers’ is committed to long-term growth as Mitolo Family Farms shifts into its next strategic phase.

“Ontario Teachers’ and AustOn have a proven track record in investing in the farming sector both in Australia and worldwide, and we are focused on using this experience to deliver long-term, sustainable growth with Mitolo Family Farms,” said Christopher Metrakos, senior managing director, natural resources, OTPP.

“We are excited to partner with the Mitolo Family Farms to grow the company’s ambitions and further increase the quality and reliability that has made it a category leader in Australia over the past 50 years.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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