IBISWorld has ranked Australia’s top 100 food and beverage manufacturers, with Fonterra taking out the top spot.
The full list will be published in the December issue of Food & Drink Business, but Hospitality can share the top 10 place-getters, which have been ranked according to the total revenue as per the companys' latest reported figures.
The top three manufacturers held onto their positions from the previous year: Fonterra remains in first place, Lion Nathan is second and Coca-Cola Amatil came in at third.
A number of companies improved their ranking considerably, including Parmalat which jumped from 27 to 19, Bindaree Beef which rose from 51 to 35 and Geraldton Fisherman’s Co-op which rose from 92 to 55.
There were also a few new entries to the list, including a2 milk, which sits in the 100th spot, and Green’s Foods which is ranked 87th.
“Green’s Foods posted a surge in revenue of 72.6 percent over the year through December 2014. This was the result of the company’s acquisitions of Goodman Fielder’s and Waterwheel’s biscuit businesses in 2013,” said IBISWorld senior industry analyst Mr Spencer Little. “a2 Milk posted revenue growth of 40.2 percent over the year through June 2015, on the back of fresh milk exports to China and substantial sales growth in a2 Platinum Infant Formula across Australia and New Zealand.
“After purchasing the remaining 50 percent interest in the a2 Milk Company Limited joint venture and converting it to a fully owned subsidiary, a2 Milk began exporting fresh milk to China in August 2014. Sales of the company’s infant formula skyrocketed in 2014-15,” said Little.
The top 10 food and beverage companies are:
- Fonterra Co-op Group
- Lion Nathan National Foods
- Coca-Cola Amatil
- JBS Australia
- Devondale Murray Goulburn
- Teys Australia – A Cargill Joint Venture
- Bidvest
- Inghams
- Food Investments
- Nestle
As part of the curation of the list, IBISWorld also identified a number of trends influencing the strength of food and beverage companies in Australia. These include:
- Strong growth in food processing industries – particularly meat processing – driven by free trade agreements and increasing global demand for Australian produce.
- Milk production in Australia has benefited from joint ventures and expansion of airfreighted fresh milk exports to growing Asian markets, particularly China.
- The beer manufacturing industry has struggled as consumer tastes have shifted towards craft beer, and industry revenue is set to decline as alcohol consumption, particularly of traditional beer brands, continues to fall.
- The wine production industry is moving towards recovery, following a wine glut that negatively affected the industry for the better part of the past decade.
