Harry & David buys Florida citrus firm

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August 12, 2008

By Greg Stiles

Mail Tribune

Harry & David Holdings' latest acquisition will allow the company to offer customers a taste of Florida.

The Medford-based gourmet food and gift giant snapped up Cushman Fruit Co., of West Palm Beach, Fla., adding a tangerine-grapefruit hybrid to its mix. Terms of the deal were not announced.

While investment dollars are hard to find in many sectors of the American economy right now, Harry & David has dipped into the cash till twice this year to spend some of the $49 million it brought in from the sale of its Jackson & Perkins rose business and Southern California land holdings last year.

In January the company paid $23.1 million to Williams Foods Inc. for Kansas-based English muffin maker Wolferman's. Harry & David President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Williams said the purchase price for Cushman Fruit was less than the previous acquisition.

"We still had cash to buy it," Williams said. "We're always looking for good acquisitions, but we don't have anything in the works at the moment."

Cushman Fruit, founded in 1945 by Ed Cushman, is best known for its so-called HoneyBells, a natural tangerine-grapefruit hybrid. The company was under the second-generation leadership of Allen Cushman and was put on the market early this year.

Cushman Fruit, located 70 miles north of Miami, generated sales of approximately $19 million in fiscal 2007.

Adding high-caliber citrus to Harry & David's Fruit of the Month mix makes sense for a company looking to boost activity between Christmas and Easter.

"It's highly regional," Williams said. "They do a lot of business on the East Coast and Florida and source their own fruit. It helps us with seasonality and will help with our call centers here and in Ohio. The HoneyBells are shipable in January and February after our Christmas rush."

Williams said Harry & David purchased the corporate name, trademarks, inventory and goodwill, but not the Cushman processing site.

"We already had packing facility relationships down there," he said.

Some of the Cushman staff will have the option to join Harry & David, which will announce a manager for the unit later this week.

Greg Stiles:776-4463 or e-mail business@mailtribune.com.

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