Page 38 - Food&Drink magazine November-December 2022

AUSTRALIA’S TOP 100 FOOD & DRINK COMPANIES 2022
SPONSORED BY
ABBREVIATIONS O Overseas NL Non-listed P Publicly listed Pty Proprietary/private
FONTERRA CO-OP GROUP
Fonterra sets strategic targets
C Co-operative
▼ Sales down ▲ Sales up
1
REV UP/DOWN
TYPE
REV $M
PERIOD
PREVIOUS REV $M
AT THE HELM
▲
OPC
21109
07/22
19582
Miles Hurrell
THE perpetual #1 cup holder, Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited recorded a 12.39 per cent increase in revenue this year. The co-op is a New Zealand-based multinational dairy company, owned by the local dairy farmers that supply the company.
This year it shelved plans to offload Australian operations, but did sell its Chilean business Soprole to South American Gloria Foods for NZ$1.055 billion.
In Australia, Fonterra owns Western Star butter, Perfect Italiano and Mainland cheese.
One of the co-op’s strategic
2030 targets is a return
of around NZ$1 billion
to shareholders. In June, it announced a NZ$50 million share buyback, saying its stock was currently undervalued.
In August, Fonterra and Royal DSM announced a start-
up company to accelerate
the commercialisation of fermentation-derived proteins with dairy-like properties. The two have been working together since 2019 on research using precision fermentation to produce proteins similar to those in dairy.
And the co-op expanded its
on-farm trials with Australian company Sea Forest, looking to quantify the methane reducing
potential of Asparagopsis seaweed added into feed.
“We have an aspiration to be net zero by 2050, and over the next decade we intend to invest
around $1 billion in sustainability initiatives to support that,” CEO
Miles Hurrell said.
Fonterra exports a wide range of
dairy products to 140 countries. The company employs approximately 19,608 full-time equivalent staff, and is administered from its head office in Auckland.
2
JBS AUSTRALIA
REV UP/DOWN
TYPE
REV $M
PERIOD
PREVIOUS REV $M
AT THE HELM
▲
O Pty
6779
12/21
6397
Brent Eastwood
Paddock, pen and pond
AUSTRALIA’S largest meat processing company JBS Australia, a subsidiary of foreign-owned private company JBS S.A., held its place at #2.
Despite freight prices,
labour shortages, and ongoing inflationary pressures, JBS recorded a margin recovery year on year. Domestic sales represent 39 per cent of total revenue and were 12 per cent higher than Q2FY21, driven by the additions of its 2021 acquisitions, Huon Aquaculture and Rivalea, as well as recovery in retail and food service channels.
Its export revenue increased
by 49 per cent on Q2FY21, due
to strong demand from the US, Japan, and South Korea, while revenue from its beef business grew 34 per cent, driven by higher average prices and volumes.
Huon recorded 24.9 per cent
net revenue growth compared to Q2FY21 due to a 24.6 per cent growth in price and 0.3 per cent increase
in volumes. Demand growth was limited by lower production levels due to high seawater temperatures impacting harvest levels.
Net revenue in the pork business grew 16 per cent year-
on-year, driven by growth in both volume and prices.
Production increases at Primo were hampered by labour shortages, with a 4.5 per cent increase in net revenue due to price rises.
JBS Southern launched a new premium beef brand, Portoro (pictured left), saying the sustainability principles used across the supply chain were a “paradigm shift” for the industry.
JBS has signed an agreement with Royal DSM to implement its nutritional supplement Bovaer across the production chain to help reduce methane emissions.
38 | Food&Drink business | November-December 2022 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au