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Blue Diamond
purchases MacFarms

The sale by Campbell Soup
includes 3,900 acres of nut
orchards and a South Kona plant

By Rod Thompson
Big Island correspondent

HONOMALINO, Hawaii -- MacFarms of Hawaii, the world's largest macadamia nut grower, has been sold by Campbell Soup Co. to Blue Diamond Growers, the companies said today. The price was not disclosed.

The sale includes 3,900 acres of macadamia orchards and a processing plant in South Kona, the companies said.

MacFarms' president Rick Vidgen said the South Kona company will fit better with its new owner. "Campbell sold us because they should never have bought us. We're an agricultural company. They're a manufacturer," he said.

Sacramento, Calif.-based Blue Diamond is a cooperative with nearly 4,000 growers. Mac Farms has had a distribution pact with them for 20 years, Vidgen said.

"Blue Diamond is the world's largest tree nut company, which markets almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts and pistachios to nearly 100 global markets," the companies said.

MacFarms has 250 employees, mostly seasonal. The sale will not affect their employment, Vidgen said. The company also buys from 600 independent growers. MacFarms had sales of about $30 million in the fiscal year that ended last July, according to the firms.

Hawaii growers have had several recent problems. Some growers complain of foreign producers "dumping" nuts, selling them below costs, in the United States. Vidgen said he doesn't believe that is happening. A real problem, he said, has been foreign producers not spending enough of their own money on advertising, but that is changing. Meanwhile, Hawaii production is failing to keep up with foreign plantings, due largely to Hawaii's orchards being older than foreign ones, he said.

Despite these problems, Vidgen noted, Mac-Farms is a profitable operation.