Page 30 - Food&Drink Magazine November-December 2021

AUSTRALIA’S TOP 100 FOOD & DRINK COMPANIES 2021
SPONSORED BY
ABBREVIATIONS
O Overseas NL Non-listed P Publicly listed Pty Proprietary/private C Co-operative ▼ Sales down ▲ Sales up
FONTERRA
Fonterra looking to offload
1
REV UP/DOWN
TYPE
REV $M
PERIOD
PREVIOUS REV $M
AT THE HELM
▲
OPC
19674
07/21
19599
Miles Hurrell
2
THIS is the fifth consecutive year for Fonterra to occupy the #1 spot. As the cooperative released its FY21 results, CEO Miles Hurrell announced the sale of its Australian business as the company shifted its focus of recent years on a business reset, to that of a portfolio asset evaluation. Hurrell said the move was part of its strategy to focus on New Zealand milk and differentiating it on the world stage. He flagged a possible IPO, while retaining a significant stake in the business.
Fonterra Australia’s FY21
normalised earnings before interest and tax was $71 million (NZ$74m), up 37 per cent on FY20, with $1.8 billion in revenue. The Australian operation has eight manufacturing sites and employs around 1300 people. In FY21 it collected just over 1.6 million litres of raw milk from Australian dairy farmers. Fonterra also manufacturers dairy brands including Bega Cheese, Western Star and Perfect Italiano.
In a long-running legal stoush with Bega over trademark
use, in February, the Victorian Supreme Court ruled Bega
is permitted to use the Bega trademark on products outside the scope of the licence Fonterra has for Bega branded cheese and butter products. Fonterra Brands Australia commenced proceedings in 2017.
Fonterra also sold its two
joint venture farms in China for US$115.5 million. It had a 51 per cent stake in the JV and received roughly $84 million from the sale. This followed the sale of its wholly owned farming hubs in Shanxi and Hebei provinces to Inner Mongolia Youran Dairy in April for $528 million.
JBS
REV UP/DOWN
TYPE
REV $M
PERIOD
PREVIOUS REV $M
AT THE HELM
▼
O Pty
6457
12/20
6875
Brent Eastwood
JBS on the acquisition path
AUSTRALIA’S largest meat processing company JBS Australia, a subsidiary of foreign-owned private company JBS S.A., is runner-up for the fifth year in a row.
2021 marks when the global company entered the aquaculture industry with JBS Australia acquiring 100 per cent of Huon Aquaculture for $425 million in October. The company announced the bid in August, but got pushback from Andrew Forrest through
his private investment vehicle Tattarang. JBS made a parallel
offer while it went head-to-head with Forrest over his calls for JBS to commit to key animal welfare and sustainability standards. Ultimately more than 75 per cent of Huon’s shareholders voted for the deal, including Tattarang. Two days after the vote, JBS Global CEO Gilberto Tomazoni filed a letter with Huon reconfirming JBS’ “unequivocal commitment to animal welfare and environmental sustainability globally”.
JBS is also seeking to acquire pig breeding and processing company Rivalea for $175 million,
which would make it the largest pork processor in Australia. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is still considering the deal, raising concerns that while the two don’t compete closely, there are potential
vertical integration issues due
to JBS’ ownership of Primo. The ACCC said its concern was not just about JBS potentially denying access to processing facilities, but about the price and terms on which access would be provided.
30 | Food&Drink business | November-December 2021 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au