In their 125 years in existence, Alico had grown to become one of America's leading citrus producers. In January 2025, owing to adverse weather events and crop disease, they made the difficult decision to wind down their citrus operations and adopt a new real estate-focused business model.
Today, we sit down with John Kiernan, president and CEO of Alico, which trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol ALCO. John has been overseeing Alico's recent efforts to transition out of the citrus industry towards a strategy that makes full use of their extensive holdings in Florida real estate, valued somewhere between 650-750 million dollars.
Going from growing oranges to building communities is no easy feat. John explains how Alico is leveraging their great team, and ample liquidity, to make it work.
Highlights:
- Alico's history (2:10)
- Alico's land holdings (4:09)
- Pivot to Real Estate (5:03)
- Florida Population Growth (6:04)
- A Diversified Land Company (8:18)
- Shareholder Returns (10:35)
- Alico's Identity (12:18)
- Alico's Role in Development (13:30)
- Corkscrew Grove (14:53)
- Regulatory Hurdles (17:22)
- Entitlements (1945)
- Mitigating Risk (22:18)
Links:
Feedback:
If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.