Queensland beef company Australian Country Choice (ACC) has launched legal action against Coles over alleged export contract breaches.
The company, which has a long term contract in place to supply beef exclusively to Coles and export markets, is Coles' largest beef supplier.
ACC alleges that Coles is selling meat internationally, in breach of a contract that it claims gives it exclusive rights to export surplus domestic Coles beef, which is reportedly worth around $150 million.
Coles, meanwhile, says the exclusivity includes other commercial parties, not the supermarket.
The legal action was launched after negotiations failed to resolve the dispute, according to ACC.
The move comes against a backdrop of strong growth in beef exports. The value of Australian red meat and livestock exports increased by almost $6b over the past five years from $9.2b in 2011-12 to $15.1b in 2015-16, according to a new state of the industry report by the The Red Meat Advisory Council (RMAC).
Australia is the leading supplier of red meat to the world and the largest consumer of red meat, according to the report. In 2016 Australia was the largest exporter of beef and the second largest exporter of sheepmeat, and the world’s third largest livestock exporter.
