Page 29 - Food&Drink Nov-Dec 2020

AUSTRALIA’S TOP 100 FOOD & DRINK COMPANIES 2020
SPONSORED BY DATA SOURCED FROM
AUSTRALIA’S
FOOD & DRINK COMPANIES 2020
Food & Drink Business, in collaboration with IBISWorld, presents this year’s Top 100 companies. A ranking by revenue of Australia’s heaviest hitters in the food and beverage sector.
IN an unprecedented, tumultuous year, Australia’s food and beverage manufacturers have cemented their critical role for the nation both practically and economically. Vulnerabilities were exposed, but so too were ingenuity, generosity and sheer tenacity. In collaboration with leading research firm IBISWorld, we have gathered all the data to reveal the Top 100 Food & Drink cohort for 2020.
Competition between FMCG companies is always a good one to watch and this Year of the Pandemic was peak viewing.
STEADY AS SHE GOES
There was little movement in the Top 10 this year with #1 through #6 remaining unchanged. Fonterra had an impressive turnaround from a $570 million loss last year to a $659 million profit this year. CEO Miles Hurrell said, “We’re a very different co-op to this time last year.”
Some have had a particularly bruising year – JBS Australia at #2 had to sack 600 workers and scale back operations at its Dinmore plant, Coca-Cola Amatil (#3) recorded a 9.2 per cent drop in 1H20 and the breweries Lion (#4) and Carlton & United (#9) were hit hard by COVID-19 lockdowns.
George Weston Foods knocked Nestlé out of the Top 10 this year to take the #10 spot.
FASTEST MOVERS
Select Harvests jumped 22 places from#92to#70withamassive
341.65 per cent revenue rise, but while it was the biggest mover for 2020, it was due to a change in its reporting period from a December to September reporting period. The company’s brands are Lucky, Sunsol, NuVitality, Allinga Farms and Renshaw, and 40 per cent of its business is private label.
Huon Aquaculture Group rose 16 places to #58 with a 21.8 per cent increase in revenue. What was interesting about this, was the growth did not come from domestic lockdown sales – Huon actually had two domestic contracts end – but from export growth. Despite COVID-19 supply chain disruptions, the company increased overseas sales by
378 per cent.
Turosi and Cordina Chicken
Farms also rose 16 places to #36 and #72 respectively. Poultry processor Turosi continued its climb – in 2019 it entered the list at #52 after a merger between OSI International Foods and Turi Foods – with a 58.02 per cent revenue rise as it reported on its first full financial year post merger. And Cordina Chicken Farms had a 9.39 per cent revenue increase, reflecting the strong performance of the poultry sector overall.
MPD Dairy Products continued its year-on-year ‘quietly quietly’ approach to growth, moving 15 places from #79 to #64 and recording 22.45 per cent
revenue growth.
Peters Ice Cream climbed from
#66to#52,reporting32.23per
cent revenue growth. This was due to its parent company Froneri buying New Zealand ice cream company Tip Top through a local subsidiary, which was in turn owned by Peters’ parent company in Australia.
WINNING SECTORS
Meat processors had a strong year, benefitting from longstanding export markets that boosted performance, with 17 companies in the Top 100 and two in the Top 10 – JBS Australia (#2) and Teys Australia (#6). AACo rose 13 places to #38 and reported a 34.23 per cent increase in revenue. Five companies recorded double digit revenue growth: AACo, Bindaree Beef Group (entered the Top 100 for the first time at #34), 31.48 per cent; Kilcoy Pastoral Company, #32, 24.65 per cent; JBS Australia, #2, 11.83 per cent; and Rivalea, #55, 10.24 per cent.
The poultry sector also performed well. Cordina Chicken Farms jumped 16 places to #72, Golden Cockerel 11 places to #80 and Hazeldene’s Chicken Farm nine places to #63.
NEW ARRIVALS
There were several new arrivals this year as we tightened eligibility requirements. McCain Foods arrived at #33 and Bindaree Beef Group at #34. Bindaree opened a new manufacturing plant, which increased its production and therefore revenue.
The six new entrants from #95 throughto#100wereChobani,De
Bortoli Wines, Tully Sugar, Boundary Bend, Australian Bakels and McCormick Foods.
BIGGEST LOSERS
Sugar companies had a tough year. A significant decline in the price of sugar from 2017 through to 2019, coupled with an increased supply from India and Brazil impacted the industry. Tully Sugar dropped 14.51 per cent in revenue, MSF Sugar 20.71 per cent (#70 to #85), and Mackay Sugar 26.58 per cent (#53 to #71).
Bellamy’s Organic fell three places to #77 with an 18.59 per cent fall in revenue largely due to a licensing roadblock to access the China market. The company waited more than a year for State Administration of Markets Regulations (SAMR) registration from Beijing, eventually accepting a buy-out offer from China Mengniu Dairy Company for $1.5 billion.
Monde Nissan had a 12.44 per cent revenue fall (#56 to #60). A crowded market in dips and snack foods as well as a softening in demand for juices may have been contributors to its drop.
Heinz was not on this year’s list as it was restructured at the end of 2018. While there is a new reporting entity, Kraft Heinz Australia, it has not consolidated revenue from Heinz Wattie’s.
Synlait is not in the report as it did not have any Australian operations until its acquisition of Dairyworks in March, which has an Australian subsidiary. Look out forthemin2021. ✷
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