Insights

SINGAPORE, 11 June 2025: Proterra Investment Partners Asia (“Proterra Asia”), has made its largest investment to date through its Proterra Asia Food Fund 3 (“PAFF3”) in Lanna Agro Industry Co., Ltd. (“LACO”), Thailand’s leading producer and exporter of frozen edamame.

Based in Chiang Mai and founded over 30 years ago, LACO has built a reputation for high-quality production, sustainable farming practices, and long standing relationships with contract farmers in Northern Thailand. Its scale and rigorous quality standards have secured trusted partnerships with premium customers, in Japan and the United States, positioning Thailand as a key origin country in the global frozen edamame market.

Following the investment, Proterra has appointed a new leadership team to oversee the company’s strategy and operations. Khun Apirak Kosayodhin has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Rojcharek Ruechai as Chief Financial Officer. The changes support a planned transition, enabling the founding family to step back4 from day-to-day management while continuing to advise the business to ensure a smooth transition. The new team will lead a growth plan focused on expanding into new international markets and strengthening the company’s position in Japan. 

Tai Lin, Managing Partner at Proterra Asia, said:
"LACO is a strong, well-established business with clear potential to scale further as global demand for healthy and plant-based foods continues to rise. This investment reflects our strategy of backing trusted operators across Asia’s food value chain who are positioned for long-term growth."
"We’re looking forward to working with the new leadership team and the founding family to grow LACO’s international presence and deepen its positive impact across the supply chain."

Proterra will support LACO’s expansion into Europe and North America—markets experiencing growing demand for healthy snacks and plant-based foods. LACO’s supply chain also offers social and environmental benefits partnering with thousands of contract farming households across Northern Thailand, to provide a stable and significantly more profitable alternative to traditional crops such as rice. 

In addition to expanding this network of contract farmers, Proterra plans to introduce and track additional environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets as part of its long-term value creation strategy. 

This marks the 13th investment from PAFF3, following recent investments in Health Lab (Australia), Meatbox (South Korea), and Silk (China).

ENDS

About Proterra Investment Partners Asia:
Proterra Investment Partners (Proterra Asia) is one of the leading alternative investment managers focused on investing in the global food and agriculture sectors. Proterra was ranked the #1 Global Private Equity Agri Investor by AUM by Global AgInvesting (2019). Proterra Asia has a track record of supporting entrepreneurs and management teams with more than capital, leveraging our unique skillset as experts across the entire food value chain, ranging from production to processing and distribution. For more information, visit: https://proterraasia.com/

Proterra Asia partners with Fidante:
Fidante provide investors with access to best-in-class investment managers. Fidante is one of Australia’s largest active investors, offering compelling strategies across equities, fixed income, and alternative assets, via partnerships with leading investment teams. A global investment management business with approximately AUD 96.8 billion under management (as of 31 March 2025) and form part of the Challenger Limited, an ASX-listed investment management firm. 
https://fidante.com/au/about-fidante.

For all media queries, please contact: 

Felicity Goodwin
Head of Public Affairs, Challenger Limited
M: +61 461 579 782
fgoodwin@challenger.com.au

This media release has been prepared by Proterra Investment Advisors (Singapore) Pte Ltd (“Proterra Asia”), which is a subsidiary of Proterra Investment Partners LP (“Proterra”). It is general information only and is not intended to provide you with financial advice or take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. To the extent permitted by law, no liability is accepted for any loss or damage as a result of any reliance on this information. Any projections are based on assumptions which we believe are reasonable but are subject to change and should not be relied upon. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Neither any particular rate of return nor capital invested are guaranteed.