Japanese food and beverage group Kirin Holdings has slashed its profit forecast for 2010 due to JPY38.8bn (US$463.5m) of write-downs at National Foods, its dairy and juice unit in Australia. Kirin was targeting net income of JPY35bn for 2010 but on Monday (20 December) set a new forecast of JPY10bn. The company said an “appraisal” of National Foods’ assets and operations had shown that increasing input costs and “changes in the Australian market” would hit the brand... ...Read more »

Kirin Holdings Company Limited has knocked almost $500 million off the value of dairy heavyweight National Foods, with changes to the carrying value of brands and goodwill on its balance sheet for the business. Kirin has written-down the value of brands and goodwill by ¥38.8 billion (A$485 million) following a strategic review of core brands, which National Foods said reflected difficult trading conditions, especially in the white milk and juice sectors. “As previously communicated, conditions... ...Read more »

Parmalat today approved its third 2010 Interim Report on Operations, reporting a net increase in revenues of 9.5%, to 3117 million euros, citing strong performance in Australia and Canada, thanks in part to the consolidation of the Parmalat Food Products operations, including former National Foods asset FreshCo, acquired in July 2009. The company was also assisted by the devalued euro, compared to the strong currencies in many of its operating countries. While the result was positive, it wasn’t... ...Read more »

Kirin Holdings, owner of Australian dairy giant National Foods, has reported a 42% drop in net profits for the first nine months of 2010, due to lower sales and one-off charges for restructuring and pensions. Profits slipped to JPY 24.2 billion (A$295 million) for the nine months to the end of September, Kirin said. The Japanese food and drinks group was dragged down by foreign exchange losses, restructuring costs, higher taxes and a one-off charge related to its pension scheme. Net sales for the... ...Read more »

National Foods has announced it will undertake an extensive review of its cheese manufacturing operations across Australia. The announcement follows a string of redundancies, consolidations and closures by the company this year. National Foods said that the sites under review are Simpson and Campbellfield in Victoria, Jervois and Murray Bridge in South Australia, Kings Meadows, Burnie, King Island and Heidi Farm in Tasmania and Malanda in Queensland. National Foods’ cheese portfolio includes... ...Read more »

Queensland’s dairy industry will gather on the Sunshine Coast next week to examine the key challenges facing milk producers in the future.The Queensland Dairyfarmers Organisation and Dairy Industry Association of Australia annual conference is on August 25 and 26 and is titled Learning from the Past, Assessing the Present, and Planning for the Future. Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Rural and Regional Qld, Tim Mulherin, will open the main day of the conference on August 25,... ...Read more »

Dairy firm Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory (WCB) has renewed its agreement to supply National Foods with bulk cheddar cheese.WCB said yesterday (3 August) that it would supply around 20,000 tonnes of “high quality” cheese a year for five years. The cheese is made at WCB’s cheese plant at Allansford and sold under National Foods’ Coon and Cracker Barrel brands. just-food is the world’s leading portal for the global pre-packaged food and retail industries. Its daily... ...Read more »

Kirin Holdings has cut its sales and profits forecast for the first half of 2010. Kirin expects net sales to be JPY43bn (US$492m) for the six months to the end of June, 14% lower than previously predicted, the Japanese drinks giant said today (26 July). It added that net profits are expected to be JPY26bn, 7% lower than its earlier forecast, with operating profits set to be 14% lower at JPY29bn. “The revision is due to smaller dividend income from affiliates than initially forecast,”... ...Read more »

The Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation is extremely concerned for the future viability of dairy farmers following the release of details of current negotiations between collective groups of dairy farmers and the dairy processing company National Foods. Last week the Queensland-based collective bargaining group of dairy farmers, Progressive Dairies, publicly released details of its price and supply negotiations with National Foods. The figures released present that National Foods is seeking... ...Read more »

National Foods to close Wetherill Park and Cobden sites National Foods today advised its workers that the Wetherill Park and Cobden fresh dairy sites will be closed over the next two years, with 280 jobs to be lost. The company will expand its Morwell site in Victoria and Baulkham Hills site in NSW, with volumes expected to triple and equipment to be imported from the closing factories. National Foods plans to spend $55 million on infrastructure for the expansion of the Morwell facility and $10.5... ...Read more »