Page 5 - Food&Drink Business magazine September 2022

NEWS
Cooke hooks Tassal for $1.1bn
TASSAL has entered a Scheme Implementation Deed (SID) with Canadian aquaculture company Cooke to acquire 100 per cent of Tassal for $5.23 per share. The Tassal board unanimously recommended shareholders vote in favour of the scheme.
Cooke said it had already obtained Foreign Investment Review Board approval for the deal and it was not subject to financing or due diligence.
The SID is a 12 per cent increase on Cooke’s previous offer of $4.67 per share in June, and assumes no final dividend is declared or paid
for FY22. The scheme values Tassal at $1.1 billion with an enterprise value of $1.7 billion.
It is a 49 per cent premium on Tassal’s
22 June closing price of $3.52, the day before Cooke entity Amore Foods acquired a stake in the business. Cooke had a 10.5 per cent shareholding in Tassal before the acquisition.
On 28 June, Tassal announced it had received an offer from Cooke at A$4.85 per share. It was the third offer from Clarke, building on $4.67 and $4.80.
Tassal chair James Fazzino said the announcementfollowed“afewmonths
of constructive engagement” between the board and Cooke.
Tassal managing director and CEO Mark Ryan said the acquisition would enable Tassal to fast track its goal to be one of the world’s most transparent and sustainable protein producers.
The Clarke acquisition follows JBS’ acquisition of Huon Aquaculture last year for $425 million, with two of Australia’s biggest salmonproducersnowforeignowned. ✷
Sugar labelling has “little impact”
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SUGAR labelling on food packaging has little impact on consumers’ purchasing behaviour, a study led by Deakin University has found. The research also revealed a high level of support from consumers for updated policies.
The peer-reviewed, randomised, and controlled trial asked Australian parents to choose between grocery items such as cereals and yoghurts.
Respondents were grouped and shown one of seven different ‘added sugar’ labelling formats, such as listing sugar in the ingredients, a ‘warning’ label, or a ‘teaspoons of sugar’ calculation.
The study found no consistent impact of any of the added sugar labels on the intended purchases of selected high sugar, packaged non-alcoholic beverages, breakfast cereals, and yoghurts.
Deakin University GLOBE research fellow Dr Miranda Blake said current labels do not help consumers in selecting foods with less added sugar.
The current Food Standards
Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Code requires a product’s nutrition information panel (NIP) to include the total amount of sugars in the product.
Total sugars include sugar that is naturally present and/or added to the food. The code also has requirements for foods that make claims about sugar such as ‘low sugar’.
Blake told Food & Drink Business, “Packaged foods are a key source of added sugar in Australians’ diets, with over half of Australians consuming levels of added sugar that are harmful to health, including
dental health.”
The trial found significant
support for the introduction of added sugar labelling as part of a suite of complementary food policies.
“Nearly 85 per cent of consumers agreed with the statement, ‘we need to set higher standards for how the food industry labels the food we eat’,” Blake said.
The Deakin research has been published as FSANZ is completing its administrative assessment and targeted consultations for Proposal P1058 – which considers the inclusion of added sugars information in a product’s NIP.
Blake said: “Our findings suggest that public education campaigns are needed, targeting key population groups, including those with low literacy and numeracy, to ensure the success of these labelling measures
to support consumers’ health and wellbeing.”
Following the targeted consultations, FSANZ will call for public comment from mid-December. ✷
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | September 2022 | Food&Drink business | 5