Fonterra has acquired troubled Tasmanian yoghurt manufacturer Tamar Valley Dairy which went into voluntary administration in September.
The NZ dairy giant bought the yoghurt company's processing equipment, related services, intellectual property and trademark names of the business for an undisclosed sum.
Fonterra expects to take control of the company, which supplies Coles and Aldi, at the end of the month.
The Tamar Valley site is to be integrated into Fonterra's Spreyton and Wynyard operations in Tasmania. Fonterra said it planned to invest further to improve manufacturing assets, upgrade quality and safety systems, invest in people in the business, and build capability for further innovation in the yoghurt category.
“Acquiring the Tamar Valley Dairy yoghurt business is a very important step in strengthening Fonterra’s strong national position in the chilled dairy segment in Australia, and complements our existing yoghurt portfolio, where we hold a market-leading position in mainstream yoghurt through the Nestlé SKI brand,” said Judith Swales, managing director, Fonterra Australia.
“The founding family has created a business with strong capability and innovation, known for producing new yoghurt formats and formulations, and in a relatively short timeframe they have built a national brand in Tamar Valley Dairy,” Swales said.
Fonterra said it would work closely with the staff at Tamar Valley Dairy to ensure a seamless transition and continuity of operations under Fonterra ownership.
“Tamar Valley Dairy will have a strong future. We see tremendous opportunity in the Tamar Valley Dairy business, and we need to ensure we have the right skill set and expertise to build a sustainable, competitive business for the long term,” Swales said.
“We recognise this has been a difficult period for the business, the founding family, employees, customers and suppliers.”
Fonterra has acquired the assets of Tamar Valley Dairy.
