Three years have passed since Fruit made its initial acquisition in the fruit and vegetable industry. During this short period of time, the company has grown from a start-up with ambitious ideas around sustainability and being a year-round supplier of quality fruit to a comprehensive and global product platform. The CEO of the company, David Krause, reflects on the journey of Fruit to date.

There have been five acquisitions in three years and all were characterized by a refusal to build a bloated corporate organization with the attendant overhead. “We want to operate as a lean, agile startup in perpetuity, since it is impossible to pivot an organization that has many senior people,” Krause said. The ability to pivot will be critical in 2024, as the majority of Fruit They will go to the companies it has acquired. «We maintain the focus on companies Fruit«.

“I am very proud that a group of disparate companies in different geographies have come together to achieve excellent numbers in 2023 and 2024. Both years appear to be equally strong despite the impact of extreme weather and geopolitical issues in some cases.” Krause shares some of the highlights from the different companies:

• Dayka & Hackett continues to be a powerhouse, adding critical capacity to avocado.
• Frutura Uruguay has reinvented itself to become a solid company, supervised by visionary leadership.
• Agrícola Don Ricardo continues to lead through its long-standing culture of impact and is the first company within the Frutura Family to achieve B Corp certification.
• Subsole has survived several difficult table grape seasons and just finished a strong season, demonstrating Chile's importance as a global supplier.
• The acquisition of Sun Belle was huge, as berries were the last “chess piece” of Frutura's big six: grapes, citrus, mangoes, avocados, cherries and now berries.

All Frutura companies collaborate on their own, with little pressure from the "corporations." “This demonstrates the power of the highly scalable Frutura platform and strategy,” said Krause. “I have executed many integrations throughout my career and I find this very encouraging.” The company refused to commit to strong management teams at the time of the acquisition. “With the right people you can do almost anything, and our global leadership has been smart, collaborative, innovative and ruthlessly determined to continually improve,” he said.

Challenges: external factors

However, not all the details could be planned in advance. There were challenges to overcome and random acts and government actions had the greatest impact. Weather conditions throughout South America had a significant impact on the supply of many commodities. Additionally, the uncertainty that comes with political unrest in Chile and Peru, as well as environmental pressures in Peru and the constant need to be conscious of the management of precious water resources, have been a challenge. Changing tariff and trade implications, uncertain price pressures and unprecedented cost increases have also had their impact on the business. However, the company closed 2023 ahead of schedule and plans the same for 2024. "I said from the beginning that we would not settle for just making sure we acquire companies with strong management and this shows what can be achieved by having the right people and right strategy,” Krause shared. “Great leaders make working through the inevitable vagaries of fresh produce together bearable and sometimes even fun.”

Prior to joining Frutura, Krause had been involved in several major acquisitions in North America. "However, he had not anticipated the acquisition dance that occurs today in Latin America," he commented. In the past, when two companies reached an agreement, the execution of an acquisition was rapid. "I underestimated the time and costs involved with government entities and other third parties to close the deals, which led to many revolts." Although Frutura does not plan to make acquisitions at the same pace in the coming years, it is better equipped and more effectively resourced to do so with fewer disruptions.

Looking to the future

After three years of intense acquisitions, Krause will spend the rest of 2024 and perhaps the first half of 2025 growing each company and fully capitalizing on the power of the network. “It's time to begin optimization season, which puts us in an excellent position to reach another growth milestone.” Krause is confident that growth could happen organically, through greater market penetration and perhaps new geographies, as some potential customers are eager for Frutura to enter their markets. Furthermore, in Asia there are countless opportunities to make the most of. “A year later, I believe the Frutura platform will be well positioned for additional growth.”

“As the company matures, the focus of my attention will be to continue to look at being a customer-centric company. Because we were founded so recently, we have had the luxury of forming a completely modern company, designed to mitigate the challenges our customers face today.”

More acquisitions?

Frutura's goal was to have the right combination of crops to be able to fulfill its main promise of getting as close as possible to offering customers their favorite fruit 365 days a year. “I am pleased with our depth and capacity in our six critical crops,” Krause said. “Being in an enviable income situation after three years of being in an agricultural climate that was, at best, 'challenging' speaks to the power of the Frutura platform, as well as our belief that putting the customer in First place is always a good deal.

However, if there is an opportunity to expand the company's geographies wisely or add capacity, the company would be open to doing big deals. However, it is very committed to the structure of the Frutura platform and the need for alignment is critical. "Not everything fits together, and it takes discipline not to focus so much on an acquisition that you don't have the courage to pass on it when your gut says 'no.' Not all ideas are good and knowing when you are wrong, and admitting it, is essential.”

Fruit 5 years later

"I wouldn't have believed it if you had told me five years ago that berries were going to be one of my top priorities," Krause said. Therefore, it is difficult to predict where the market will be in 2029, but it will likely involve newly important crops and varieties, as well as an increasing global reach and a continued emphasis on quality, freshness and flavor.

The most important thing is that the consumer wants more and more quality without sacrificing sustainability, from production to packaging. “I think there will be a sea change among educated consumers who will want to know the sustainability story of the fruit they consume.” Frutura feels well positioned to be in the right place at the right time upon impact. “It has been part of our founding ethos and will be an even more important market driver in the years to come.”