Page 7 - Food&Drink July 2019

US Lamb Weston acquires Harvest Choice
Coca-Cola Amatil cracks fizzy recyclables
COCA-COLA Amatil has made Australia’s first carbonated soft drink bottles from 100 per cent recycled plastic. By the end of 2019, Amatil aims to have all single- serve plastic bottles in Australia switched to the new materials.
Group managing director Alison Watkins says it is an Australian first and a credit to the technical team.
“We think every beverage container should be recycled and live again, not become waste in our marine and land environment,” Watkins says.
“But pressure inside a soft drink bottle is up to 100 psi, or three times the pressure in a car tyre. So the bottle for carbonated drinks needs to be much stronger than for still beverages, and that’s been an obstacle in using 100 per cent recycled materials for these types of drinks.
“I’m pleased to say we’ve overcome this challenge through innovation and design, and we’re
venture partners.
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NEWS
US frozen food manufacturer Lamb Weston has acquired Australian producer Ready Meals, known as Harvest Choice, adding around 31 thousand tonnes of production capacity to Lamb Weston’s global network.
Operating its processing and storage facilities in Hallam, Victoria, Ready Meals sells its frozen potato products under the Harvest Choice brand.
Lamb Weston president and CEO Tom Werner says, “The Ready Meals acquisition is the continuation of our strategic work to strengthen and expand our global capabilities.
“The acquisition will complement our presence in Australia, providing us
additional avenues to increase our position in Australia’s 1.1 billion pound [453 thousand tonne] market.”
Once the Ready Meals acquisition details are
finalised, Lamb Weston will own and operate 18 processing facilities worldwide, and an additional eight facilities in conjunction with its joint
New chair for Robern Menz
SOUTH Australian confectionery company Robern Menz has appointed Peter Siebels as its new chair. Siebels is principal of his own advisory business, with a background in finance, business strategy and consulting. He was a partner at KPMG for 20 years and is currently chair of Hood Sweeney and Fox Creek Wines.
Siebels says helping the company achieve its goals in terms of growth and providing a sound governance framework to do that are the foundations for his role, but also working with the Sims family on what
they would like to achieve is something he relishes.
Robern Menz CEO Phil Sims says Siebels’ experience and strategic guidance would prove invaluable to the organisation through rapid change.
“Our recent acquisitions of the Polly Waffle and Violet Crumble brands have accelerated the evolution of the
Robern Menz business, with bigger facilities, more staff and global growth plans,” Sims says.
Siebels told Food & Drink Business that acquiring the iconic brands meant
the challenge was now to leverage the investment and that Robern Menz has only “scratched the surface”. He sees growth in global markets as the next step. “A lot of good work has already been done, but what itcouldbeisyettobe determined,” he says.
“Consolidating Violet Crumble and Polly Waffle is our immediate focus but one thing I’ve learnt is the confectionery business is a very innovative industry. The good thing about a family business compared to a global conglomerate is that they are nimble.
Decisions can be made for the longer term, not just the profit inthenexttwelvemonths.” ✷
now the first in Australia to make 100 per cent recycled plastic bottles for carbonated beverages. That’s great news for the sustainability of our products, and a credit to Australian innovation.”
This initiative follows a number of sustainability projects, including using renewable energy, replacing single-use plastic straws with paper ones and ensuring 100 per cent recycled plastics for MountFranklinwaterbottles. ✷
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