Page 5 - Food&Drink Business Magazine July-August 2020

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FREEDOM FOODS FINANCIAL WOES
Freedom Foods Group surprised the market with the sudden departure of CFO Campbell Nicholas and resignation of CEO Rory Macleod. Chair Perry Gunner was left to explain $60 million in inventory write-offs, $10 million in bad debts and
PwC and Ashurst being called in to get to the bottom of it all. As Gunner said, it was “certainly not the company’s finest hour”.
LION ATTACKED BY RANSOMWARE
A ransomware attack on brewing giant Lion resulted in the shutdown of all its online systems. It took almost three weeks for its nine breweries and Dairy & Drinks business to be fully functional. There was no evidence financial or personal information had been affected, Lion said.
GENERAL MILLS SELLS READY MEAL BRANDS General Mills sold two of its ready meals brands and licensed a third to ready meal specialists Beak & Johnston. Ready Chef and Pasta Master will be sold, and Latina’s chilled ready meals category will be licenced to Beak.
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SPC AND DÖHLER ANNOUNCE JOINT VENTURE
A joint venture between SPC and ingredients specialist Döhler – Gourmet Ingredients – will see new products developed in Australia and then sold through Döhler’s sales and distribution channels. SPC’s ingredients business is about 10 per cent of current turnover.
BARRY CALLEBAUT BUYS GKC FOODS
One of the world’s largest chocolate and cocoa product manufacturers Barry Callebaut Group acquired Australian B2B chocolate manufacturer GKC Foods. Barry Callebaut said the acquisition was a strategic one to establish a direct presence and manufacturing capacity in Australia.
BUDERIM PROPOSES GINGER SALE
ASX listed Buderim Group has received an $8.3 million offer for its ginger business from Global Foods Group as it sets its sights on international expansion of its macadamia business. The
company will change its name to Health and
Plant Protein Ltd. Principal shareholder and executive chair of Global Foods Group George Vasili also has a 15.85 per cent interest in Buderim Group.
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