“I don’t want to be in God’s waiting room,” says agribusiness entrepreneur Alan Pye, “so I just keep battling on.”
A new farm and property development are the latest projects for Timaru’s Pye, who has come a long way since leaving school at 15 to work on a family farm.
Dubbed Australasia’s “spud king,” Pye maintains majority stakes in Australia-based vegetable companies Zerella Fresh and Parilla Premium Potatoes, which hold contracts with major supermarkets across the ditch.
However, Pye is selling off Tasmania’s largest farm, Rushy Lagoon, as he focuses on projects closer to home.
At Rich List deadline Pye was still advertising the sale of the farm he bought in 1997 and later expanded with the acquisition of adjoining properties Red Hills and Easy Wyambie. It is expected to fetch more than $70 million.
Pye says his children weren’t interested in the farm, with South Island-based Leighton and Michelle being too busy and Mark and Fiona having enough on their hands with Zerella and Parilla. “I just wondered why I was carrying on with farming it,” he says.
Through Pye Group, Leighton and Michelle grow potatoes and carrots and have dairy operations across the South Island. Michelle joined Fonterra’s shareholder council in 2016, representing North Canterbury.
Dean and Phillipa also have their own interests, through Pye Produce and Berry Farm Ltd. Meanwhile, Leanne and Ewan Hollever have Oceanview Dairy.
Pye says while his personal net worth is about $300 million, the total family’s wealth combined would be much, much more.
Meanwhile, other projects include a property venture with former son-in-law Alan Booth, with whom he previously ran an ice-cream stick factory with in Australia. Booth and Pye have bought the former Hydro Grand hotel site, which Pye says will be starting soon. The $42 million development will be staged and include apartments, retail and possibly a new hotel, he says.
In June Pye will open another dairy farm in Canterbury on Tanks Rd. The 300ha farm will milk about 1100-1200 cows, the agribusiness mogul says.
Photo: Ashburton Guardian