Page 6 - Food & Drink Magazine Jan-Feb 21

NEWS
Arnott’s $8m soup boost
ARNOTT’S Group has announced an $8 million upgrade to its Shepparton plant, as part of an infrastructure investment program to upgrade its facilities over the next three years.
The upgrade will see a 30 per cent increase in overall production at the site over the next 12 months, and a 400 per cent increase in export volume.
Arnott’s said it expects
$10 million in indirect economic benefits from using more farm produce, increased operational expenditure and new employment in regional Victoria.
The upgrade will result in the plant manufacturing an extra 16.5 million kilograms of soups and stocks per year.
The group owns the licensing rights to produce Campbell’s
Accolade Wines sells wineries, retains brands
ACCOLADE Wines will sell two of its wineries and relocate production of Petaluma, Croser and Grant Burge portfolios to its Tintara and St Hallett wineries.
Accolade Wines CEO Robert Foye said it was the result of a company-wide assessment to ensure it had the capacity for growth and was sustainable.
Petaluma and Croser have reached capacity at Woodside Estate, Foye said, prompting the decision to sell the facility and transfer the brands to “the spiritual home of Accolade Wines and our state-of-the-art facility at Tintara”.
The company has invested around $16 million in Tintara over recent years.
Foye said: “With a long history of Adelaide Hills winemaking, Tintara has a phenomenal barrel cellar,
amazing winemakers and a sizeable site that can accommodate all fruit from the Petaluma and Croser vineyards and family of
grower vineyards. It will enable us to produce even more quality Petaluma wine that people have come to know and love.
The company will search for a new location for the Petaluma Cellar Door, which will keep trading
in its current location until sold. Its vineyards in Summertown and Mount Barker will be retained. Its white wine winery Krondorf will also be sold.
Global chief marketing office Sandy Mayo told Food & Drink Business it was an exciting time for
the business. “We’re making these changes to facilitate the growth of our brands.
“We started the review process about six months ago because we outgrew
Woodside and were looking to what Accolade will look like in three to five
years,” Mayo said. The company’s decision was not
prompted by recent tariff increases
imposed by China. “We have a business based in China – but we’re also strong in the rest of the region and already had really strong growth plans in other parts of the world, so we are shifting our focus to those regions.”
Australia squarely at the
centre of efforts to increase nutraceutical and pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities in Australia and will enhance the bio-security of the nation.”
The expansion of Jervois has been to add value to the facility. Lactoferrin will be extracted from all incoming milk, ensuring increased revenue and return for every litre processed, the company said.
It would also enhance employment opportunities and security for the company’s employees, while growing milk volumes from South Australian dairy farmers.
Beston processes more than 25 per cent of South Australia’s milk pool, it said.
“The expansion will also bring significant benefits to the state’s dairy industry as we continue to increase our demand for milk for processing into high value lactoferrin along with our mozzarella and cheese products,” Hicks added.
products in Asia Pacific as part of its consumer food brands portfolio.
The Arnott’s Group CEO, George Zoghbi said: “For 60 years, we’ve been making soup here in Shepparton for Australian families.
“We have a rich history in Australian food-making, and this upgrade at Shepparton shows our commitment to making more delicious food right here.”
The Shepparton upgrade will be delivered in three phases, with the first commercial production of new export volume having commenced on 1 December 2020.
The project involves converting and relocating an existing production line to fill, close and pack cans, and the purchase and installation of new machinery.
ABOVE: Arnott’s Group CEO George Zoghbi (left) and Shepparton team member.
BESTON Global Foods Ltd has received a $2 million grant through the South Australian Government’s Regional Growth Fund. The company will use the money to expand its lactoferrin plant in Jervois, South Australia.
Beston has been implementing a two-stage expansion of the plant. In June 2020, funds were raised through an equity placement with institutional shareholders to increase its lactoferrin production capacity from three million tonnes to 12 million tonnes per annum. It is due for completion by the end of February 2021, with production to start in March 2021.
Stage two, with the grant funding, will increase production capacity to more than 20 million tonnes a year.
Beston CEO Jonathan Hicks said the grant would see more employment at the factory and significant flow-on benefits in the Murraylands region.
“The further expansion of our lactoferrin plant will put South
Beston Global Foods receives $2m grant
6 | Food&Drink business | January/February 2021 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au