FOOD INDUSTRY AND TRADE – AUSTRALIA

SPC bets on a fruitful ASX future

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 18-Dec-24

Shares in SPC Global closed at $1.31 on Tuesday, the stock’s first day of trading on the Australian stock exchange after raising $2.4m. The iconic fruit processing company issued new shares at $1.50 apiece following a reverse takeover of The Original Juice Company. That deal expanded the group’s product range and brands, which include SPC, Ardmona and Goulburn Valley; SPC also struck a deal to acquire the Nature One Dairy infant formula and powdered milk business. SPC’s MD Robert Iervasi says the enlarged group will have more bargaining power when negotiating supply deals with Coles and Woolworths.

CORPORATES
SPC GLOBAL HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SPC, THE ORIGINAL JUICE COMPANY LIMITED – ASX OJC, NATURE ONE DAIRY

SPC heads back to the ASX for the first time in two decades

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 3-Oct-24

Iconic Australian canned food company SPC has revealed plans for a three-way merger with the listed Original Juice Company and powdered milk group Nature One Dairy. SPC will list on the Australian sharemarket via a reverse takeover of Original Juice, while it will pay $50m for Nature One. SPC chairman Hussein Rifai will become chairman of the merged entity, while Original Juice chairman Jeff Kennett will step down if shareholders approve the deal. SPC had previously been listed on the ASX until 2005, when it was acquired by Coca-Cola Amatil; SPC was subsequently divested in 2019.

CORPORATES
SPC GLOBAL LIMITED, THE ORIGINAL JUICE COMPANY LIMITED – ASX OJC, NATURE ONE DAIRY

Sara Lee sold to former Darrell Lea owner and race car champion

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Original article by Jessica Yun
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 30-Jan-24

FTI Consulting received approaches from about 60 local and international parties about buying the Australian arm of Sara Lee. The administrators of the frozen desserts brand has struck a deal to sell the business to Klark and Brooke Quinn for an undisclosed price. The Quinn family had previously bought collapsed confectionary icon Darrel Lea and turned around its fortunes before selling the business to a private equity firm. Sara Lee went into voluntary administration in October 2023.

CORPORATES
SARA LEE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FTI CONSULTING PTY LTD, DARRELL LEA CONFECTIONERY COMPANY PTY LTD

ACCC must probe food giants on prices: Fels

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Jan-24

Former Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Allan Fels has urged the ACCC to conduct a major inquiry into competition and prices in the retail food and grocery industry. Fels recently conducted an ACTU-sponsored inquiry into price gouging, with Fels claiming that supermarkets are not being transparent about the price history of displayed items and their "correlated discounts". While supporting the appointment of former trade minister Craig Emerson to conduct a review of the food and grocery code, Fels says the voluntary code should be made mandatory.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

My Foodie Box enlists Thermomix as a partner as it seeks to take on Hellofresh and Marley Spoon

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Original article by Cameron England
The Australian – Page: Online : 7-Jan-22

Meal kit company My Foodie Box will make its debut on the ASX on 7 January, after having raised $6 million through what was an oversubscribed initial public offering. It will use the money raised to expand operations from its Perth base, with an initial focus on Sydney and Melbourne. Its prospectus indicates it has a current customer base of over 1,650, generating around $105,000 per week. My Foodie Box will be competing with Hellofresh and Marley Spoon, while it has a tie-up with the only distributor of Thermomix appliances in Australia.

CORPORATES
MY FOODIE BOX, HELLOFRESH AUSTRALIA, MARLEY SPOON AG – ASX MMM

Food suppliers calls for close contact rule to be abolished amid supply chain chaos

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: Online : 7-Jan-22

Gold Coast-based food distributor Jeff Godden is among the many members of Australia’s food supplies industry calling for close contact rules to be scrapped. He says the rule has meant he has had stand down almost 50 per cent of his drivers, while he estimates his Godden Food Group business has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past fortnight. He is also unhappy that food distributors must rapid antigen test their employees every day, costing them between $500 and $5,000 a week.

CORPORATES
GODDEN FOOD GROUP

Unions slam compulsory vaccine push

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal, Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 15 & 19 : 6-Aug-21

The question as to whether employers can mandate that staff must be vaccinated against COVID-19 has come under renewed scrutiny after SPC’s move to enforce a ‘no jab, no job’ policy. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union’s national president Andrew Dettmer has criticised the fruit and vegetable processor’s lack of consultation, as well as its unrealistic deadline of six weeks for staff to get their first dose at a time when vaccine supplies are limited. Lawyers have also questioned the validity of mandatory staff vaccinations. Many Australian companies are actively encouraging their staff to get vaccinated, with some offering incentives such as paid leave.

CORPORATES
SPC AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION

Inflation pressures are percolating: Nestle chief

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 24-Jun-21

Nestle Australia has revealed that it recorded sales of $2.37 billion for the 2020 calendar year, up 7.9 per cent. It posted a profit of $122.6 million, up from $30.7 million in 2019, with that result having been impacted by $48 million in impairments. Nestle Oceania CEO Sandra Martinez says the company has had deal with dramatic increases in costs over the past 12 months, covering everything from coffee to shipping containers. She says its increased costs will have to be passed onto consumers at some point.

CORPORATES
NESTLE AUSTRALIA LIMITED

China devours one-third of all our farm exports

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 5 : 20-Aug-20

Data from Rabobank shows that China accounted for 32 per cent of Australia’s food and agricultural exports in 2019-20. China also bought 30 per cent of Australia’s lamb exports and 25 per cent the nation’s beef exports during the financial year, while it accounted for 77 per cent of wool shipments. Tim Hunt of Rabobank warns that Australia is too reliant on a single export market, particularly given the recent tensions between the two nations. He notes that while China has been the major driver of the agribusiness sector’s growth over the last decade, there is a need to diversify into other export markets.

CORPORATES
RABOBANK AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Peanut butter battle leaves Kraft in a jam

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 2-May-19

Australian-listed Bega Cheese has won a trademark dispute with US food giant Kraft over the design of peanut butter packaging. The Federal Court has ruled that Bega has the exclusive right to use the distinctive packaging of Kraft Peanut Butter in Australia after it bought the brand from Kraft spin-off Mondelez International in 2017. Kraft subsequently re-entered the Australian peanut butter market using its traditional packaging, which was similar to that of Bega.

CORPORATES
BEGA CHEESE LIMITED – ASX BGA, THE KRAFT HEINZ COMPANY, MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA