Australia’s fifth biggest dairy company, the Italian-owned Parmalat group, has ended the year with a major acquisition, buying Victorian dairy exporter Longwarry Foods for AS$67m.
The move will add another 100 million litres of milk supply to Parmalat’s business, which is growing rapidly after its AS$120m purchase in April of major WA dairy and juice exporter Harvey Fresh.
With Longwarry’s 100 million litres of milk — processed at its single Victorian Gippsland plant — and Harvey Fresh’s 130 million litre processing throughput, Parmalat now controls more than 12% of Australia’s 9.2 billion litre annual milk production.
The move will take Parmalat Australia, formerly an Italian company that is now controlled globally by French dairy giant Lactalis, close to No 3 position among Australia’s major six producers, currently held by Japanese-owned Lion.
More importantly for Parmalat, the Victorian purchase gives its Australian milk business an enhanced export focus, after years of having 90% of its turnover reliant on the volatile domestic fresh milk market through its Pauls brand.
In contrast, the Longwarry Food Park company, owned by Rakesh Aggarwal and his extended family, exports 80% of its specialised production of milk powders, cream cheese and UHT milk.
Source: The Australian
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