The company is closing the Peanut Company of Australia, based in Kingaroy, and selling water assets in Queensland to offset costs and refocus its business strategy.
The Kingaroy facility, established in 1924, has been a cornerstone of the Australian peanut industry. Bega acquired the business in 2017 during a period of downturn. Since then, profits have continued to decline due to challenges including cheaper imports, higher input costs and weaker domestic peanut yields, making the operation financially unviable.
With no buyer found for the peanut processing infrastructure, which covers sites in Kingaroy and Tolga, Bega has decided to sell related water rights in the Bundaberg region. Roughly 800 megalitres of medium-priority water allocations have already been sold at prices ranging from $3625 to $3750 per megalitre. An additional 1000 megalitres of high-priority entitlements from the Burnett River system are now available on the market.
This move comes amid growing interest in permanent water rights across Queensland. Stabilising interest rates and federal government water buybacks are altering water supply conditions further south in the Murray-Darling Basin, driving demand in areas like Queensland where water markets remain less developed.
While peanut production is coming to an end, Bega will continue producing peanut butter using Australian-grown peanuts sourced from external suppliers. Meanwhile, water entitlement values have risen by 3% this year in the southern basin for the first time in three years. This suggests a broader shift in agribusiness strategies in response to evolving climate, trade and policy pressures.
