Page 68 - Food&Drink magazine November-December 2022

YEAR IN REVIEW
and COO since it began. Cancino will become chief innovation chef and Moro will continue to work in the operations side of the business.
Tony Rowlinson (below with chair Nick Simms) was CEO and managing director of ASX listed juice and functional beverage company The Food Revolution Group (FOD).
PLANT-BASED LABELLING REGULATION SENATE INQUIRY A regulatory framework, a review by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and new Food Standards Australia New Zealand Code (FSANZ) guidelines were three of the nine recommendations made by the federal senate inquiry into plant-based labelling.
Animal protein industry groups argued that plant-based protein sector’s use of animal protein descriptors and images cause confusion, and it was “piggybacking” off the red meat industry’s reputation.
The inquiry’s report Don’t mince words: definitions of meat and other animal products, said food categories had become blurred and claims on plant-based proteins not clearly regulated.
✷ APRIL
FRUCOR SUNTORY’S $400M BUILD
Drinks manufacturer Frucor Suntory will build a $400 million beverage production facility in Ipswich, Queensland (right) to establish a production footprint in Australia, relieve pressure on its New Zealand operations, and fuel growth.
The multi-beverage facility is set to be on a 17-hectare, greenfield site in the New-Gen Business Park in Ipswich, and will include beverage processing, packaging, warehousing, and distribution.
It will be able to product up to 20 million cases of drinks a year when it opens in mid 2024, with the site also designed for significant scaling in the future.
PLANTFORM FOR PLANT- BASED INVESTORS
A new accelerator for plant-based businesses, PlantForm, will help companies accelerate products to market, scale, and increase product development, co-founder and food tech investment adviser Allen Zelden says.
Zelden said the accelerator will provide leading R&D, co- investment opportunities, and a deep connection to the food tech production ecosystem.
PETER’S $12M PENALTY
Australasian Food Group, trading as Peters Ice Cream, was ordered to pay a $12m penalty for anti- competitive conduct. The Federal Court made the ruling in relation to distribution agreements for ice creams sold in petrol stations and convenience stores.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) brought the action in November 2020. Peters admitted that from November 2014 to December 2019, it signed a distribution deal
with PFD Food Services on the proviso PFD would not sell
or distribute competitors’ single serve ice cream products in various areas across Australia without Peters’ written consent.
$378M PLANT PROTEIN MANUFACTURING PROJECT A project led by Australian Plant Proteins (APP), Australia’s only commercial scale pulse protein extraction facility, together with Thomas Foods International
and pulse and ingredient supplier AGT Foods Australia, will see $378 million invested in the construction of three plant protein manufacturing facilities supplying domestic and international markets.
It will quadruple the production of pulse protein in South Australia to 25,000 tonnes a year. The state produces more than a quarter of all Australian pulses, with the increase creating new high value-added domestic supply options for pulse growers.
APP launched its first processing plant in 2020, using a proprietary fractionation process to develop protein isolates from yellow peas, mung beans, chickpeas, red lentils and yellow lentils.
MURRAY RIVER
ORGANICS ENTERS VA Organic dried fruit manufacturer Murray River Organics went
into voluntary administration nine days after its AGM, on
9 February. Grant Thornton Australia were appointed voluntary administrators
and KPMG as the receiver.
The company was looking to FY22 to sell its remaining properties, attract new investments onto the farms in return for long term supply arrangements which would ideally lead to a meaningful increase in yields.
In its FY22 trading update at the AGM, the company said targets were to significantly reduce debt and operating losses. It had sold its Mourquong facility, implemented automation initiatives at the Dandenong site, cut spending, reduced staff and sold underutilised farm assets. It planned to sell its remaining farm assets by April.
BUBS DAIGOU DEAL
Bubs Australia signed an equity share deal with its largest corporate daigou
distributor, giving
Hong Kong company Willis Trading a
4.82 per cent stake in the business.
Willis Trading is a
wholly owned
subsidiary of Hong
Kong-listed Alpha Professional Holdings was Bubs’ largest customer throughout FY21 and the first half of FY22. It is the lead distributor for Bubsâ and CapriLacâ brands in the corporate daigou channel.
TURBINE RECEIVES $33M
The Turbine Collaborative Food & Beverage Manufacturing Precinct on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast received a further $33.4m from the federal government.
Turbine’s goal is to showcase a new way for food and beverage
manufacturing to operate, with an industry-based food and beverage research, education and commercialisation facility within the precinct expected to gain national and international recognition as a blueprint for collaborative manufacturing.
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