Twelve months after bringing four businesses together under the SPC Global banner, CEO Robert Iervasi says the biggest shift has been cultural as much as financial: the company has moved from making what it can and “finding a home” for it, to building the portfolio around what consumers want, in the channels where demand is strongest.
at its Shepparton facility.
“The last 12 months has certainly enabled us to validate that the rationale for the four businesses coming together is – we’re better together than we are apart,” Iervasi told Food & Drink Business, pointing to the uplift in first-half performance.
“In the last 12 months we’ve delivered, for example, $13 million of normalised EBITDA versus 7.5 the year before.”
SPC Global confirmed a “material improvement in profitability” for the six months to 31 December 2025, its first full year operating as a combined group following the December 2024 merger of SPC, The Original Beverage Co, Nature One and Natural Ingredients.
In its 1H26 results statement, the ASX-listed manufacturer said the first-half performance was underpinned by portfolio optimisation, stronger margins and continued integration and synergy delivery. The group reiterated it remains on track to meet full-year guidance, including a targeted 25 per cent year-on-year increase in normalised EBITDA for FY26.
From “where we can produce” to “where the demand is”
Iervasi described the strategic reset as a clear break from “the SPC of yesteryear”.
“I’m very much focused on going where the demand is, not where we can produce product,” he said.
“Historically, the business would generate volume through factory, buy fruit, buy produce, and have that inventory to then… find a customer in which to sell it to, whereas we’ve flipped it on its head to say, what are our consumers wanting – which channels, which customers – and do we have the capability to make it?”
That demand-led lens is now shaping everything from NPD to pack formats, with SPC Global chasing higher-margin channels such as on-the-go, foodservice and international markets where the group believes Australian-made cues can carry an even stronger premium than they do domestically.
“Being SPC, being in the Shepparton region, and having growers close by to the factory means we have an unquestionable reputation for producing Australian products… and Australian made in Asia – and globally – attracts a premium,” Iervasi said.
He pointed to one example already in market: a fruit purée pouch made in Shepparton that launched offshore via Nature One’s international business.
“We haven’t launched the product in Australia. We’ve gone straight to a global offering… reflecting on where consumer demand is.”
Asia strategy: channels first, categories second
Iervasi said the merger has allowed SPC Global to “buy” speed into Asia, particularly through Nature One’s infrastructure and people on the ground.
“Nature One was less about getting into dairy and more a channel strategy,” he said. “We now have infrastructure in Asia with a regional office in Singapore. We’ve got a sales office in Hong Kong, which gives us people on the street doing the selling, as opposed to trying to manage a distributor here in Melbourne.”
That channel-first approach is now being applied across the beverage portfolio, where functional products are travelling well.
“Our beverage portfolio, especially Juice Lab shots, has had exceptional double-digit growth, that’s starting to get a lot of traction within Asia including Japan, Korea and Singapore.
The broader logic is to diversify earnings away from the seasonality that historically defined SPC’s domestic fruit and tomato base.
“We are not reliant on Australian summer to deliver the end-to-end P&L,” he said. “We now have 50 per cent of profit coming from international markets.”
SPC Global’s half-year statement noted international margins improved despite lower first-half revenue, reflecting the timing of major sales events and an exit from lower-margin manufacturing contracts. The company said new partnerships and product launches across Asia are expected to support a stronger second half and beyond.
Working capital: inventory discipline moves “the dial”
A key early proof-point has been working capital discipline, particularly inventory. Iervasi said the group set a target to reduce group inventory to $110 million by end-December 2025.
“Not having our working capital tied up in inventory has actually started to move the dial to producing products that we know there will be demand for in the future,” he said.
SPC Global’s results statement echoed that theme, citing “disciplined inventory management” and improved working capital efficiency as part of its balance sheet strengthening.
“Better together” now in execution mode
SPC Global’s half-year statement framed the result as a “pivotal milestone” and highlighted the operating improvements as benefits of building a more diversified group with a sharper focus on profitable growth.
“Over the past 12 months we’ve brought together four complementary businesses to create a stronger, more resilient group,” Iervasi said in the results release.
The next phase, he told Food & Drink Business, is about taking those building blocks – channel strategy, working capital discipline, manufacturing flexibility, and a functional/convenience-led pipeline – and converting them into sustained momentum, domestically and offshore.
“I’m encouraged by transitioning SPC Global to be a demand consumer products business,” he said. “The opportunities that it presents to us are endless.”
