Murray Goulburn Co-operative

Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited
Agricultural cooperative
Industry Manufacturing
Retail
Founded 1950 (1950)
Headquarters Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Products Milk
Butter
Cheese
Revenue + A$ 2.4 billion (2012/13)
Number of employees
 2,000 approx
Website mgc.com.au

Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited (Devondale Murray Goulburn) is an agricultural cooperative formed in 1950 from a group of dairy farms and has grown to become Australia's largest processor of milk.[1]

Turmoil engulfed the processor in 2016 as the milk price fell below production costs, prompting calls for the board to be sacked or the co-operative to be sold.[2]

The former chief executive of Carlton & United Breweries, Ari Mervis, was appointed to the role of CEO and Managing Director[3] and commenced his role on 13 February 2017.

Profile

With nine manufacturing plants located throughout Victoria and Tasmania, Murray Goulburn processes over 35% of the nation’s milk supply (3.3 billion litres) into products which are sold on both domestic and export markets. Devondale Murray Goulburn's international business accounts for approximately 9% of world dairy trade and they trade in over 100 countries.

It has over 2500 suppliers who are also the shareholders of the company. Devondale Murray Goulburn also supports over 2000 employees with an annual turnover of approximately A$2.4 billion.

Devondale Murray Goulburn is the largest container user in the Port of Melbourne exporting in excess of 375,000 MT or 23,500 containers in a financial year.

All Devondale Murray Goulburn's processing plants are accredited to ISO 9001:2000 manufacturing facilities and are certified to the NSF HACCP – 9000 standard for HACCP and GMP. Compliance with finished products specifications is independently validated by Dairy Technical Services, located in Melbourne, Victoria.

Devondale Murray Goulburn made a bid to take over Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Company Holdings in early 2010 and again in October 2013.[4][5]

In February 2016, Murray Goulburn won a five-year supply contract for Coles Supermarkets, supplying private label, daily pasteurised milk and cheddar-style cheese in blocks, shreds and slices for Victoria and NSW.[6]

In July 2016 Murray Goulburn was dumped as a supplier by Woolworths, costing the co-operative approximately A$108 million.[7]

Business Units and Brands

  • Devondale (consumer brand of milk and cheese)
  • Liddells - Lactose free dairy products
  • Corporate brands division (Supplier to Consumer Brands)
  • MG Nutritionals (research Division)
  • MG Ingredients (Supplier of whey, milk powder, concentrate, casein)
  • MG Qingdao Dairy
  • MG Trading
  • Ascend - Proven Sports Proteins (Consumer brand for scientifically proven proteins)

Controversy

The managing director, Gary Helou, left the company in early 2016 after concerns were raised internally about large losses being made followed by a profit downgrade and subsequent farmgate milk price slash, just after the co-operative partially listed on the stock exchange.[8] The company then slashed the price dairy farmers had been expecting for their milk, and instituted a A$200 million clawback on milk that had already been acquired where the 2,500 farmers would have to pay back the difference. This resulted in farmers being paid less that what it cost to produce milk for the company. The company's behaviour was documented in an expose by the Four Corners program in August 2016.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Dairy Australia (1 January 2016). "Production Summary". Dairy Australia. Dairy Australia. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  2. ↑ Simone Smith (15 August 2016). "Crisis grows for dairy giant Murray Goulburn accused of 'deeply wounding' industry". Weekly Times. News Corporation. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Julie-anne Sprague (12 December 2016). "Murray Goulburn appoints former CUB boss Ari Mervis as managing director". Australian Financial Review. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  4. ↑ Murray Goulburn wants Warrnambool Cheese. The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 Jan. 2010.
  5. ↑ "The Standard" 18 Oct. 2013
  6. ↑ Retail World Editor (5 February 2016). "Murray Goulburn wins Coles cheese supply contract". Retail World. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  7. ↑ Clint Jasper and Nikolai Beilharz (28 July 2016). "Murray Goulburn loses out as Woolworths hands private label dairy contracts to rival processors". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Simone Smith (15 August 2016). "Former Murray Goulburn managing director Gary Helou makes first public comments since shock exit". Weekly Times. News Corporation. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  9. ↑ Debbie Whitmont (16 August 2016). "Four Corners: Dairy farmers forced to sell up in face of plunging milk prices". Four Corners. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.