Page 66 - Food&Drink Magazine November-December 2021

YEAR IN REVIEW
sense looking at what we had in the portfolio with such strong brand recognition for Topo Chico in Latin and North America, to add alcohol and tap into a growing trend,” Priest said.
SNACK BRANDS’ $222M EXPANSION PLAN
The proposed expansion of Snack Brands Australia’s Orchard Hills site in Western Sydney was classified a State Significant Development Application due to the jobs and investment it could bring to the region. The $222 million project will expand the current facility to a 22,225 square metre operation to include food manufacturing (3,500 square metres) as well as existing warehousing and distribution.
NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said: “Chips may be cheap, however this proposal is anything but and represents a major opportunity for Western Sydney.”
LION BUYS FERMENTUM
In a deal said to be worth more than $500 million, the Fermentum Group – creators of Stone & Wood brewery – have sold to Lion. Lion’s acquisition will take the entire portfolio of brands including Two Birds, Fixation, Little Drago and Sunly Seltzer.
Stone & Wood was founded in 2008 near Byron Bay. Its stable now represents about one per cent of the Australian beer market. The ACCC approved the sale in November.
SANITARIUM FINED $15K
The NSW Environment Protection Authority has fined Australian Health & Nutrition Association (Sanitarium) $15,000 for discharging wastewater into a local waterway, the largest amount the EPA can issue under its legislation.
The spill occurred in February, when Sanitarium was transferring wastewater to a sewer line via a temporary piping set-up. The EPA said its water quality analysis revealed a clear impact from the discharge in the downstream sampling location when compared with the upstream sampling results.
FONTERRA FLAGS IPO FOR AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS
As New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra Cooperative Group
released its FY21 results, CEO Miles Hurrell also alerted the market the company was turning its focus from a business reset to a portfolio asset evaluation, including the sale of its Australian business. The company will also sell its business in Chile.
CEO Miles Hurrell 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 percent on FY20, with $1.8 billion in revenue.
✷ OCTOBER
FREEDOM FOODS SAYS IT’S A ‘NOUMI’ WITH NEW NAME Freedom Foods Group says it will change its name to noumi following a shareholder vote at its AGM on 18 November. Noumi (pronounced “noo-me”) will replace its existing corporate identity, which it sold to The Arnott’s Group earlier this year. Arnott’s new Good Food People division absorbed the Freedom Foods brand and range of snacks and cereals and in October had the first brand and recipe refresh with Messy Monkeys.
YUME AT THE FOREFRONT OF FOOD WASTE REDUCTION
In a collaboration with the Victorian Government, Unilever, Mars Food, and General Mills, Yume has developed Australian-first technology to tackle commercial food waste. The social enterprise has developed a one stop
solution for producers to sell or donate surplus food to food rescue organisations, all on the Yume platform.
A2 MILK TO DEFEND
CLASS ACTION
Slater and Gordon has filed a class action against The a2 Milk Company in the Victorian Supreme Court on behalf of investors who bought shares between 19 August 2020 to 9 May 2021.
The Statement of Claim alleges a2 Milk breached the Corporations Act through misleading or deceptive conduct as well as breaching continuous disclosure rules in posting four downgrades on 28 September and 18 December 2020, and 25 February and 10 May 2021.
a2 Milk said it would “vigorously defend” the case.
JBS OFFICIALLY ACQUIRES HUON AQUACULTURE
More than 75 per cent of Huon Aquaculture shareholders voted in favour of the JBS takeover at the company’s AGM. Andrew Forrest’s private investment vehicle, Tattarang voted in favour, despite saying its intention was to vote against both the original and parallel scheme as late as 27 October.
JBS CEO Brent Eastwood said the company was pleased with the outcome and overwhelming support of shareholders for the offer.
“Acquiring Huon represents our first step into the aquaculture industry for JBS globally. We believe that our contacts and our ability to open up and access new markets, combined with the expert team at Huon, create a fantastic opportunity to take this business forward,” Eastwood said.
PLANT-BASED FLAVOUR FACILITY FOR SA
A $2.5 million lab to improve the taste of plant-based foods and ingredients has opened in Adelaide. The facility is an extension of the University of Nottingham’s International Flavour Research Centre and will be based at the University of Adelaide’s Waite campus. Australia’s plant-based meat company v2food is a major investor in the project along with the two universities and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. The facility will use innovative flavour chemistry technology to develop better tasting plant-based foods.
ON THE COVER
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OCTOBER 2021
STREAKY, SMOKY, JUICY PROGRESS MILK WITHOUT SALTY SUCCESS P8 IN JAPAN P14 THE MOO P22
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INAUGURAL AUSTRALIAN FOOD PACT LAUNCHED
The Australian Food Pact is the latest addition to the arsenal of projects and R&D working to halve the country’s food waste by 2030. Simplot Australia, Woolworths Group, Goodman Fielder, and Coles Group are four of the
founding signatories, joined by Mars Australia, Mondelez Australia, ARECO Pacific, and McCain Foods.
The Pact follows proven successful voluntary agreements that tackle food waste following the food waste hierarchy – preventing food waste in the first place, donating good food, and supporting food chain transformation andinnovation. ✷
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