The following five businesses are baking up the biggest storm in Australia according to their most recently published annual sales figures in the latest Food & Drink Business Top 100 Companies report, produced in collaboration with IBISWorld.
1. Goodman Fielder
Revenue: $2172m to June 2013
CEO: Chris Delaney
Goodman Fielder operates around 48 processing plants, with operations including fresh baking of packaged loaf bread, bread rolls, chilled bread and other baked products. It also makes a range of retail home ingredients.
The company has undergone significant restructuring in recent years, and last week its board of directors accepted a takeover offer from Singapore food company Wilmar International and Hong Kong-listed investment management firm, First Pacific Company.
2. George Weston Foods
Revenue: $2065m to August 2012
CEO: Andrew Reeves
George Weston Foods, which manufactures a range of products including bread, baking products, small goods, cakes and ingredients, is a subsidiary of Food Investments, part of the UK-based Associated British Foods.
It produces around 7.8 million loaves of bread and 338,000 cake pieces every week. The company recently installed an array of 16 palletising robots at its production facility in Castlemaine, Victoria, in what’s believed to be the country’s largest project of its type.
3. Arnott’s Biscuits
Revenue: $996m to July 2012
President Asia Pacific: Gareth Edgecombe
Arnott’s Biscuits is a subsidiary of the Campbell’s Soup Company and is Australia’s largest biscuit producer and its second largest supplier of snack foods.
Its best-known brands include Tim Tams, Jatz and Shapes, and it recently partnered with high-profile Australian patissier, Adriano Zumbo, to create a limited edition Tim Tam range.The company’s parent said last year that the brand was being challenged by margin pressure and aggressive competition.
4. Patties Foods
Revenue: $245m to June 2013
MD: Steven Chaur
Patties Foods is the market leader in the retail frozen savoury segment, which includes pies, sausage rolls, pasties and party goods, and number two in the retail frozen dessert segment.
Its brand portfolio includes Four’N Twenty, Patties, Herbert Adams, Nanna’s, Creative Gourmet and Chefs Pride. Patties recently appointed Steven Chaur, the former regional MD of industrial company Saint-Gobain, as its new managing director.
5. Mrs Mac’s
Revenue: $97m to December 2012
CEO: Murray Beros
The family-owned pie and pastries maker produces all of its products at its bakery in Perth. It uses 14-17 tonnes of beef per day, which has been sourced from farms throughout Western Australia, and employs 350 Australians and New Zealanders.
Its pies are individually wrapped and are sold in retail, route trade and food service outlets.
