Family in $13m ginger buy-out

family behind Queen Fine Food’s essences is set to acquire another Queensland business icon with a multimillion-dollar deal to buy Buderim Group’s ginger operations.

The Brisbane-based Himstedt family late on Thursday offered to take over the operations for $13 million including the company’s ginger factory, tourist attractions and Fiji operations.

The sale is expected to be completed by next month with the sale allowing ASX-listed Buderim Group to concentrate on its macadamia business. The Himstedt deal beat an original $8.3 million offer made in June.

Himstedt spokesman Tom Himstedt said the family was pleased to become custodian of the famous business.

Buderim Ginger was founded in 1941 as a farmer’s co-operative and in recent years has expanded into softdrinks and related products.

”We look forward to furthering the long-standing grower and customer relationships as well as being an integral part of the Sunshine Coast community,” said Mr Himstedt.

Buderim Group chairman Guy Cowan said it was comforting that the new owner of the ginger business was a renowned family in the food business.

Mr Cowan said the deal would allow Buderim Group to become a dominant player in branded macadamia products and potential opportunities in health food products.

The 123-year-old Queen Fine Foods was acquired in 1978 by the Himstedt family, which built the company into a dominant market position in Australia and New Zealand before selling it to German food brand Dr Oetker in 2015.

In 2017 Buderim Group attracted $20 million investment from Qia Qia Foods, one of the biggest snack food companies in China, and Wattle Hill, a Sydney-based investment, as it sought to break into the lucrative Asian market.

Buderim Ginger has in recent years been losing market share as demand for traditional products, such as glace ginger used in Christmas cakes, waned.