Pic Picot: Pic's Peanut Butter founder on a private Australian firm buying a majority stake in the company

A private Australian firm has bought a majority stake in the famous Kiwi peanut butter firm Pic’s.

The hugely successful Nelson-based company is now 51.3 percent owned by Melbourne-based Scalzo Foods, with founder Pic Picot keeping the rest.

Picot says he's happy with this move, as the company needs the extra money.

"We have big plans and we were getting sort of stuck with a bit too much debt - and I'm ready to do other things."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here's some good news. It's all on for our international
interest in buying great New Zealand businesses. At the minute.
Picks Peanut Butter is the latest. It is now fifty
one point three percent owned by a Melbourne firm. The
business has found a pic Pea Coast still holds a
minority stake and is with us hat pick great, Hell, congratulations,
well thank you. Why do you sell the majority though?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Pick? Well, because we needed the money and and so
we had we had big plans and we were getting
sort of stuck with sort of a bit too much debt,
and you know, I'm ready to do other things like well,
I'm very happy to continue. Oh I'm doing, I'm doing.
I'm doing marketing stuff. So I get out in Caspabias

(00:43):
and go to food shows and meet people, which is
what I like, and force them to eat peanut butter.
And then I've got this beautiful bit of land out
here at Materaho where i am tonight in the gorgeous evening,
and I'm planting trees and looking after a bit of
wetland and fixing up an old house and doing you know,
sort of cool stuff.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
Oh that's fantastic.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, I'm doing all the good stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
So I mean, if you to sell the majority, though,
you'd have to have fair confidence that these guys are
going to keep on going with the good stuff that
makes your brand your brand.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Right, absolutely, And I think we've been very lucky and
coming across Scalzough because they well they started off really
we started talking to them and we were having sort
of issues sort of getting hold of our peanuts. So
I don't know if you heard, but the Peanut Company
of Australia, where we used to source all our peanuts from,
was sold to a competitor to Begger in Australia, and

(01:34):
then the volumes of nuts kept dropping as the land
started drying out. And then about six weeks ago the
Peanut Company of Australia folded and the had been going
for one hundred and twenty odd years and so it
suddenly closed. And there's you know, all our people in Kingaroy,

(01:57):
they're all all unemployed and looking for something else to do.
So we've been really lucky. You've got really good timing
because Scales I've got such very cool international relationships, so
they were a very big peanut buyer and so they
can get really good deals on the top quality peanuts,
which is what we love. And it's been really it's
been really useful. And they've also they've also brought with

(02:20):
them a heap of skills, you know, technical skills and
management's abilities. Are just good, good people. They've been around
for a long time and most of their staff have
been there for fifteen twenty years. It's fantastic.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Oh that's brilliant. And listen, I'm stoked that you're going
to have a good time planting your trees. Enjoy that.
I can't imagine how much fun that is. I'd love
to be able to do it. Let's pick peecoat for
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