Limoneira Announces Joint Venture with Agromin for Major Expansion of Organic Recycling Facility
April 08 2025 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
Joint venture to transform green waste and food
waste into agricultural benefits while generating expected
substantial EBITDA for both partners
Limoneira Company (the “Company” or “Limoneira”) (Nasdaq: LMNR),
a diversified citrus growing, packing, selling and marketing
company with related agribusiness activities and real estate
development operations, today announced entering into a letter of
intent to form a 50%/50% joint venture with Agromin Corporation,
the largest organics waste recycler in California, to significantly
expand their successful organic waste recycling program. The joint
venture plans to expand from the existing 15-acre green waste
composting facility at Limoneira Ranch in Santa Paula into a
70-acre, commercial-scale composting facility capable of processing
both green waste and food waste.
Upon completion, the expanded facility is projected to generate
substantial financial returns for both partners, with first-year
EBITDA contribution projected at approximately $5.0 million to be
shared equally between Limoneira and Agromin. Annual EBITDA
contribution is expected to grow to $9.0 million over the next ten
years, maintaining the same 50%/50% profit-sharing arrangement. The
Company is planning to lease the 70-acre site to the joint venture
for approximately $0.6 million annually, strengthening Limoneira’s
rental operations business division.
Harold Edwards, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Limoneira Company, stated, “This partnership exemplifies our
commitment to innovative, sustainable agricultural practices while
creating additional value for our stakeholders. By expanding our
collaboration with Agromin, we are not only addressing critical
waste management challenges in California but also enhancing our
agricultural operations by applying compost to improve soil health
and increase water conservation.”
Limoneira’s existing organic waste recycling program with
Agromin has already proven highly successful, converting regional
green waste into valuable mulch that Limoneira uses throughout its
agricultural properties. The mulch helps prevent soil erosion,
increases water conservation, reduces weed growth, and moderates
soil temperatures—all critical factors in sustainable farming
operations. The expansion project, which is expected to begin
construction in fiscal year 2025 and be completed in phases in
2026, received a significant boost from a $10.0 million grant
provided by the State of California’s CalRecycle Organics Grant
Program in December 2024. CalRecycle’s Organics Grant Program is a
statewide effort to expand capacity and build new organic recycling
facilities in California, aiming to lower overall greenhouse gas
pollution. This funding will help support the complex transition
from green waste processing to a fully permitted food waste
composting operation—a process that required 15 years of planning
and permitting. Once fully operational, the facility is expected to
process approximately 295,000 tons of organic waste per year.
About Limoneira Company
Limoneira Company, a 132-year-old international agribusiness
headquartered in Santa Paula, California, has grown to become one
of the premier integrated agribusinesses in the world. Limoneira
(lē moñ âra) is a dedicated sustainability company with 10,500
acres of rich agricultural lands, real estate properties, and water
rights in California, Arizona, Chile and Argentina. The Company is
a leading producer of lemons, avocados and other crops that are
enjoyed throughout the world. For more about Limoneira Company,
visit www.limoneira.com.
About Agromin
Agromin, headquartered in Oxnard, Calif., is the largest
organics recycler in the state. Agromin manufactures earth-friendly
soil products for farmers, government entities, landscapers and
gardeners and serves over 200 California communities. It works with
jurisdictions throughout the state to support their fulfillment of
SB 1383 procurement needs. Each year, Agromin receives more than 1
million tons of organic material and then uses a safe, natural and
sustainable process to recycle the material into more than 300
eco-friendly soil products for landscape, agriculture, consumer and
energy markets. The results are more vigorous and healthier plants
and gardens, and on the conservation side, the opportunity to close
the recycling loop, allowing more room in landfills and reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. Agromin is a U.S. Composting Council
Composter of the Year recipient. For more information, go to
www.agromin.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. These forward-looking statements are based on Limoneira’s
current expectations about future events and can be identified by
terms such as “expect,” “may,” “anticipate,” "plans", “intend,”
“should be,” “will be,” “is likely to,” “strive to,” and similar
expressions referring to future periods.
Limoneira believes the expectations reflected in the
forward-looking statements are reasonable but cannot guarantee
future results, level of activity, performance or achievements.
Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or
implied in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, Limoneira
cautions you against relying on any of these forward-looking
statements. Factors that may cause future outcomes to differ
materially from those foreseen in forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to: success in executing the Company’s
business plans and strategies, including the implementation of the
joint venture with Agromin; the ability of Limoneira and Agromin to
generate the expected financial returns of the joint venture; the
possibility that the joint venture will not realize any additional
value to our stockholders, and managing the risks in the foregoing;
changes in laws, regulations, rules, quotas, tariffs and import
laws; weather conditions that affect production, transportation,
storage, import and export of fresh product; increased pressure
from crop disease, insects and other pests; disruption of water
supplies or changes in water allocations; disruption in the global
supply chain; pricing and supply of raw materials and products;
market responses to industry volume pressures; pricing and supply
of energy; changes in interest and currency exchange rates;
availability of financing for land development activities;
political changes and economic crises; international conflict; acts
of terrorism; labor disruptions, strikes or work stoppages; loss of
important intellectual property rights; inability to pay debt
obligations; inability to engage in certain transactions due to
restrictive covenants in debt instruments; government restrictions
on land use; and market and pricing risks due to concentrated
ownership of stock. Other risks and uncertainties include those
that are described in Limoneira’s SEC filings that are available on
the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Limoneira undertakes no
obligation to subsequently update or revise the forward-looking
statements made in this press release, except as required by
law.
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Investor: John Mills Managing Partner ICR
646-277-1254
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