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In December 2009, AUSVEG CEO Richard Mulcahy, together with Bayer CropScience, announced a partnership between the two companies with the aim of providing benefits to Australian vegetable and potato growers. The partnership will result in close collaboration between the two organisations on issues specific to the horticulture industry and enable growers to share in the collective expertise of the two organisations. Bayer CropScience (www.bayercropscience.com.au), a global arm of Bayer, is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the area of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. It employs approximately 18 300 people in over 120 countries. As the national peak industry body, AUSVEG (www.ausveg.com.au) represents the interests of over 9000 Australian vegetable and potato growers from the $3.7 billion wholesale Australian vegetable industry. Bayer CropScience immediately began working with AUSVEG in sharing important information to assist the industry in addressing major threats to crops. Discussions are also being held on the state of science on the application of existing and potential new products to combat crop disease. Bayer CropScience will also be working with AUSVEG to identify market opportunities for vegetables, including sharing information on successful overseas models. AUSVEG Chairman John Brent said that he and the AUSVEG Board were proud of the partnership. Scott Ward, Horticulture and Summer Crops Portfolio Manager, Bayer CropScience, is also looking forward to strengthening the partnership between the two companies. “Investment in the Australian horticultural
industry remains important to Bayer CropScience. Since AUSVEG represents
the interests of 9000 Australian vegetable and potato growers, our partnership
with AUSVEG further enables us to deliver innovative solutions to the
market, to ensure that growers can produce healthier crops, more efficiently
and more sustainably,” said Mr Ward. In January, Richard Mulcahy announced another strategic partnership, this time with General Manager Tony Higgs of specialist vegetable seed company, Terranova Seeds (www.tnseeds.com.au). Terranova will partner with AUSVEG for the National Convention and Trade Show and will work together with AUSVEG to provide solutions for growers throughout the Australian vegetable and potato industry. “Terranova Seeds produces a large variety of quality vegetable seeds, ensuring the high quality we expect from Australian produce … Terranova’s specialised technical staff service Australian farmers around the country and offer full support to the Australian vegetable growing industry,” said Mr Mulcany. Mr Mulcahy said that the AUSVEG Convention would be unlike any other event staged in the vegetable industry and that Terranova would feature prominently in the trade show and events as one of 70 companies displaying goods and service. Materials handling company gives assets to staff Staff dedication was recently rewarded at Australian
materials handling specialist, Industrial Conveying (Aust) Pty Ltd.
With no direct interest from family members to eventually assume control
of the company, Managing Director Don Erskine handed
over half of the company’s assets to his staff. “This company is in a regional area of Australia and if someone came in and bought out the entity tomorrow there would be no guarantee the jobs would stay in Bendigo. As business leaders, we are duty-bound to make sure that all regional centres of Australia continue to grow economically to provide the nation with decentralisation options. Also, if something happened to me without warning it is comforting to know that the company will be controlled and directed by the employees and it will be business as usual,” said Mr Erskine. Industrial Conveying specialises in the design and installation of materials handling systems and conveying solutions right across the industry spectrum, including food processing and handling. The company turnover is measured in tens of millions of dollars a year and it is an integral link with the general business supply chain in the Bendigo region. Markets, however, are national, plus it manages export markets in Europe and North America which represent about 15% of its business. Shares will be distributed according to the length of time an individual has spent with the company. An average will be taken of the last three years profit (by percentage) for anyone that is employed by the company, and all earnings will be managed by a shareholder trust for employees. Amcor gets Alcan acquisition approval In the December 2009 issue (p 514) we reported on Australian packaging company Amcor’s offer to acquire parts of Alcan Packaging from Rio Tinto. The acquisition was subject to a number of regulatory approvals and formal acceptance of the offer by Rio Tinto. In mid-December, Amcor announced that it had received European Commission approval to proceed with the acquisition of the European businesses of Alcan Packaging. A condition of this approval was Amcor agreeing to divest its Tobepal operation comprising two plants that have combined sales of approximately €110 million and produce a range of pharmaceutical, personal care and food packaging products. The plants are located in Spain and are part of the Amcor Flexibles operations. The divestment undertaking was required to meet the European Commissions’ concern relating to pharmaceutical sachet and aluminium cold-form foil products. The combined Amcor and Alcan Packaging businesses in Europe currently have sales of approximately US$4.8 billion in 75 plants. Amcor’s Managing Director and CEO, Ken MacKenzie, said, “Receiving approval from the European Commission is an important step toward closing the Alcan Packaging acquisition. The two plants to be divested represent less than 5% of the combined sales in Europe and will not have a material affect on the synergies or operational improvements anticipated.” In late December, Rio Tinto formally accepted the offer by Amcor to buy Alcan Packaging. The company said that it had issued its approval following completion of the required European Works Council consultations. Subsequently, Amcor announced that the US Department of Justice had terminated the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger waiting period, which allowed Amcor to acquire substantially all of the operations of Alcan Packaging and limits its ongoing review to Alcan’s Medical Flexibles operations in the US. This business unit consists of four sites with sales of approximately US$115 million. The decision on the latter will be made following a detailed review of the market by the US Department of Justice, which was expected to take up to three months to complete. During this period that business will remain with Rio Tinto Plc. With regulatory approvals having been already granted in Australia, Canada, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, Amcor announced in February that the acquisition of the Alcan Packaging business had been completed. The purchase consideration of US$1948 million represents a PBITDA multiple of 5.1 times based on earnings for the year ended 31 December 2009 of US$383 million (excluding the US Medical Flexible operations in the US). New organisation structure Nigel Garrard will continue to lead Amcor Australasia, however the Asia Pacific Flexibles business which is currently managed under the Australasia operations will form part of the new business unit, Flexibles – Asia Pacific, under Ralf Wunderlich. Ralf was recruited from Linpac Packaging where he was Executive Director, President and Managing Director. Ralf is also a Non Executive Director of the AptarGroup Inc, a supplier of a broad range of dispensing systems for the personal care, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, household and food and beverage markets. Ralf has previously been President of the Alcan Packaging Global Tobacco business and prior to that President of Alcan Packaging – Asia & Pacific. Consumer sugar price increase Sugar Australia has announced that, as a result of
30 year highs in the world raw sugar price, the CSR consumer sugar range
will increase in price by 25%. Below forecasted harvests in Brazil and unfavourable growing conditions in India have contributed to a deficit in world supply and, coupled with strong demand for sugar products, are the primary reasons for this raw sugar price increase. A stronger Australian dollar has helped offset some of the increase. Tim Hart, CEO of Sugar Australia, which market the CSR Brand of consumer sugars said that the CSR sugar price increase was necessary in light of the substantial cost pressure experienced by the Company. Sugar Australia has implemented operational improvements to minimise the price increase passed on to customers. “Sugar Australia is an Australian-owned company employing more than 350 people and sources Australian raw sugar from local millers. Increasing our price is not a decision we take lightly. However we must remain competitive and ensure appropriate margins for our products so that we can continue to provide Australian families with the quality sugar products they have relied on us to supply for more than 150 years,” said Mr Hart. Crackdown on NSW egg producers The NSW Government has introduced new measures that allow for increased penalties of up to $22 000 to improve the welfare of caged layer hens. “The Government is serious about making sure the entire egg industry meets the required cage standards, which include minimum floor space, cage heights and door openings,” said the then NSW Minister for Primary Industries Tony Kelly (December 2009). Mr Kelly said that the amendments to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act allow for increased maximum penalties for non-compliance with the layer hen cage regulations, and make it an offence to fail to comply with an inspector’s notice. The moves are in addition to regulatory changes that were introduced on 1 January 2008 that created nationally agreed standards for the housing of caged layer hens. “We plan to increase the maximum penalty for breaches of the layer hen cage regulations from $2750 to $5500 for individuals and $22 000 for corporations. At the same time the Act allows for increased penalties for breaches of the Animal Trades Codes of Practice made under the Regulation to the same levels, to ensure a consistent approach to breaches. It is now an offence to fail to comply with an inspector’s notice. The maximum penalty for this offence is $2750,” he said. Egg producers have had almost two years to ensure they meet the minimum requirements. It is believed that these changes will make it fairer for the vast majority of farmers across NSW who have invested heavily in ensuring they meet the required standards. Mr Kelly said that the RSPCA will continue to carry out inspections to ensure producers are complying with the required cage standards. “There are about four million layer hens in NSW with gross farm gate value of production around $115 million,” he concluded. Pork OHS awards Following significant investment in infrastructure
and upgrades to its boning room and other production areas, PPC Linley
Valley has had a substantial increase in throughput and output, resulting
in a greater demand for improved productivity. PPC has an annual throughput
of about 500000 PPC Occupational Health and Safety Coordinator Stacey Bohm said that it recognised the company’s commitment to providing a safe working environment for all employees. “The new carton erector is the first of its kind and we’ve experienced no manual handling injuries since its introduction. The innovation is a credit to our engineering department, together with Visy and has great potential for use across numerous industries,” she said. PPC’s carton erector has been be entered in the Safe Work Australia awards, with national winners to be announced in early 2010. Agribusiness is Australia’s new mining sector Agribusiness is becoming the “new mining sector” in terms of growth industries in Australia, according the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC). Speaking at the Agrifood Skills Australia conference in Sydney in September 2009, AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell highlighted that the agribusiness sector, which includes Australia’s $100 billion food, grocery and beverage industry, has remained resilient during the global financial crisis when many other industries have declined. “The agrifoods industry remains strong and continues to grow despite the economic downturn and the challenges of food security, climate change, increasing populations and Asia’s growing middle class. While facing these challenges, the agrifoods industry has played a major role in keeping our nation out of recession,” said Ms Carnell. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures (September 2009) on Australia’s GDP show that agriculture has grown by 3% between June 08 and June 09 and food manufacturing has increased by 5.4% over the same period. Other leading economic indicators, including the Commonwealth Bank Agribusiness Index, have forecasted that this economic growth in agrifoods is expected to continue into the foreseeable future. A major focus of the Agrifood Skills Australia conference was to encourage better outcomes for Australia’s training systems and improve the availability of skilled and trained workers in the agrifoods sector. Ms Carnell said that the agribusiness industry continued to offer a broad range of fulfilling jobs from farmers to corporate offices in New York. “In this industry, you can be a food scientist,
accountant, factory manager, marketer or a farmer and be employed anywhere
across the globe,” she said. “For Australia’s agribusiness industry to further increase its percentage share of the world market, it must grow its exports through more value-adding. The agribusiness sector has the potential to be the best performing industry of the future, overshadowing previous boom industries – it’s essential to everyone’s daily needs, and supplies safe, healthy and sustainable products to the world,” said Ms Carnell. Food and grocery sector booming Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Tony Burke released the findings in September in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Australian Food Statistics 2008 report (see also Food Aust 62(1/2):29, Jan/Feb 2010). The report showed the industry supported 14 000 new jobs in 2007–08, with the strongest long-term growth in regional areas. Compiled by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE), the statistics also showed the food and beverage sector remained Australia’s largest manufacturing industry and employed around 206 000 people in 2007–08. Kate Carnell said that the report confirmed that
Australia’s food, grocery and beverage sector, which is vital
to many regional centres in Australia, had weathered the global storm
better than many other industries. These findings also support Ms Carnell’s comments made at the Agrifood Skills Australia Conference. Ms Carnell said that the food and grocery industry
offered a wide range of career opportunities across the globe from the
farm-gate to corporate offices. |
PPC
Linley Valley Fresh (PPC) has won the 2009 Work Safety Award Western
Australia, for best solution to an identified workplace safety and health
issue. The pork processor won the award for developing an innovative
carton erector that forms up to seven different sized cartons. PPC’s
in-house engineering department, in conjunction with Visy Packaging,
successfully installed the carton erector, the first automated system
to produce more than one size carton.
