Bega Group has reached an agreement with Crumpton Group (Crumptons) to sell the land, buildings and equipment located at the Peanut Company of Australia’s (PCA) peanut processing sites in Kingaroy and Tolga, after initially deciding in July they would be shut down over the next 18 months.
Bega acquired PCA in late 2017, enabling the launch of its vertically integrated peanut butter brand, Simply Nuts, in 2019. The company said PCA had been under sustained financial pressure prior to its acquisition and despite upgrades to site safety and initiatives to boost production, it hadn’t been able to develop a sustainable business model.
Following a 12-month review and a lack of buyer interest, Bega announced in July that PCA’s sites at Kingaroy and Tolga would be shut down, with its 150 employees to be offered redundancies, support services and redeployment incentives and opportunities where possible.
However, with Friday’s announcement that Crumptons will be taking over the processing sites, some employees may be redeployed. Bega stated that it doesn’t change the company’s plan to close the PCA business, and it will still be paying redundancies and entitlements to all staff impacted by the closure.
Bega Group CEO, Pete Findlay, said while selling PCA was always the preference, the company is pleased that the land, buildings and equipment located in Kingaroy and Tolga will remain in local hands.
“Bega Group remains committed to supporting its people through this transition and has worked with Crumpton’s to identify up to 30 potential roles with Crumpton’s for its impacted workforce,” said Findlay.
“We will continue to provide redeployment training and assistance, including a job fair held in Kingaroy.”
Crumptons is a fourth-generation family-owned business operating out of the South Burnett region, a diversified agribusiness with a long history in peanut growing, shelling, processing and roasting supplying peanut products to the Australian market.
Crumptons CEO, Sonie Crumpton, said: “The acquisition of these assets will allow us to better serve Australian Peanut Growers in all regions moving forward. We will soon be in discussions with peanut growers regarding the coming season”.
Bega Group will complete the sale of the land, buildings and equipment to Crumptons in December 2025 to support the intake of peanuts from North Queensland. The Kingaroy site will continue to operate until June 2026, when the relevant assets will transition to the Crumpton Group.
