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Welcome to Food & Drink Business PLAY. Here are our top stories for February – from food safety and major retail scrutiny, to a big sustainability investment and a new global player backing an Australian beverage business.
Our Top 100 2025 edition of Food & Drink Business magazine is more than the annual flagship Top 100 Report. Industry leaders reflect on the year past and the one ahead, we provide our annual news review, M&A wrap-up, and all the executive moves, and a Roman-inspired sports drink, Posca, is our final Rising Star for 2025.
Food & Drink Business and IBISWorld present this year’s Top 100 companies, a ranking of Australia’s largest food and drink companies by revenue. This year reflects a sector positioning itself for immediate term viability and long-term competitiveness.
A sweeping government review of Australia’s research and development system has recommended significant changes to tax incentives, manufacturing support and R&D funding to reshape how companies invest in innovation.
Two of Australia’s peak business bodies have welcomed the federal government’s response to its Strategic Examination of Research and Development (SERD), but the Australian Industry Group (AiGroup) has raised sharp objections to a proposal it says will actively reduce the business R&D investment the report itself identifies as critically low.
Food redistribution platform, Yume Food Australia, has been acquired by Procurement Australia, after the company went into liquidation last November. The technology will now be re-established and operated under Procurement Australia’s ownership.
Independent women-led brewery, Reckless Brewing, has completed a capital raise of more than $500 thousand through Birchal. Since releasing its first beer in late 2019, the company has opened a physical brewery in Bathurst, and is now ready to expand its national footprint.
The development of a mandatory Winegrape Purchases Code of Conduct is officially underway, following Dr Craig Emerson’s analysis of the Australian wine industry, released by Wine Australia last July. The code will commence on 1 January 2027.
Fonterra Co-operative Group has announced CEO, Miles Hurrell, will step down, ending a 25-year career with the New Zealand dairy co-operative, including eight years in the top job.
Independent beverage solutions provider, Refresco, has signed a 10-year prelease for the 25,500 square metre ground floor of Gateway Capital’s new multi-level industrial facility in Revesby, Sydney.
Australia’s plastic packaging manufacturers are bracing for a fresh supply chain shock, as escalating conflict in the Middle East begins to disrupt the flow of oil-derived resins into global markets.
In a PKN-exclusive roundtable discussion, industry leaders warned that without a clear signal from Canberra, local investment, sovereign capability and the circular economy ambitions government has backed with public funding could begin to unravel.
Global packaging and labelling group CCL Industries is set to acquire French shrink sleeve technology specialist Sleever International, to expand its global sleeve decoration and labelling portfolio.
