National agricultural research business, Kalyx Australia has completed its acquisition of Staphyt Research’s New Zealand business – a move that sees the company grow its presence beyond Australian shores for the first time.
For over two decades Kalyx has been leading independent agricultural research in Australia due to its national presence and operational excellence, says managing director, Ashley Bacon.
“Over that time, Kalyx has helped their clients bring hundreds of new crop varieties, pesticides, fertilisers and other ag technologies to Australian famers.
“Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Kalyx,” Mr Bacon said. “The New Zealand expansion represents a significant investment and milestone for our business as we continue to look for ways to improve levels of service to clients, many of which also operate in both countries.
“We are thrilled to have Staphyt’s NZ research team join us. As all our clients know, success in this game is about having the right people in the right places. We are proud to say that we have the best people in NZ for the job and business will continue as usual for our clients across the Tasman for 2022–23 with support from our leadership team in Australia.”
Staphyt Research has operated in New Zealand for over 20 years under the Peracto and Staphyt brands.
The company operated across three key locations for agricultural production: Pukekohe, Hastings, and Ashburton. The Staphyt New Zealand business has conducted research across important horticultural and arable crops including potatoes, onions, vegetables, grape, pome, cereal and forage crops.
“We look forward to the opportunity of working with the motivated and research focused team in Kalyx Australia,” said New Zealand business unit manager Jarrod Harvey. “The added support and experience of our colleagues in Australia, can give our clients confidence we can deliver high-quality, on-time contract research to meet their growing requirements.”
The latest extension of Kalyx is the next step in a year of significant growth for the company. In the last six months Kalyx has opened four new branches in Cairns, Bundaberg, Orange, and Melbourne.
These new locations provide an improved and diverse horticulture efficacy and GLP (good laboratory practice) residue trial offering, with greater access to a variety of crops, including tropical fruits and tree crops in the Queensland region.
Kalyx national horticulture and GLP business lead Matt Burley said, “The increased range of environments in which Kalyx now operate is what sets our business apart.
“Clients can feel confident that they can contract their research to Kalyx knowing we have the flexibility to locate any trial in the location that will produce the best data. In some cases, this means we can access key crops all year round to get new products to market sooner.”
Mr Bacon said the New Zealand arm of Kalyx will continue to operate in all locations under the capable management of Jarrod Harvey and his team. “As with Kalyx’s Australian operation, the business will be centrally supported with its existing management and administrative structure.
“A key to the success of Kalyx has been its Australian ownership – a model that we will be expanding to NZ. We appreciate that our clients place a lot of trust in Kalyx when contracting us to assist with their research programs.
“A big part of this relates to the stability that we believe local ownership provides. We’ve been in Australia for over 25 years, and we intend to be here for another 25, continuing to deliver the highest quality trials and best value for our clients.”
