Goodman Fielder (GFF)

Shares / Stock Code

GFF

Stock Exchange / Sharemarket

Australian Securities Exchange

The company known as Goodman Fielder is a food company based in Australia. The brands they cater to their consumers are provided across Australian and the New Zealand food industries. Their customers include convenience stores, supermarkets and food service customers. The company’s headquarter is situated in New South Wales, Australia with about 7,000 employed people.

The company is operating in five main segments of their business; Fresh Baking, which used to be the Baking Australia, Retail New Zealand, Pacific, Meadow Lea Australia, and Commercial. The Fresh Baking is a supplier of breads and different bakery ingredients, even spreads, mayonnaise and salad dressings. The segment Retail New Zealand is a supplier in New Zealand of consumer food; it is consisted of Baking New Zealand, New Zealand Dairy Foods and Meadow Lea New Zealand. The Pacific segment of the business supplies flour, processed chicken, stock feed and snack foods in other countries like Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia. The Commercial segment is also a supplier of some edible food components like fats and oils to Australia and New Zealand.

The Goodman Fielder also has retail businesses in Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia, as well as Asia Pacific region, generally. Some of the well-known consumer brands are Meadow Lea, White Wings, Praise, Pampas, Helgas’s, Mighty Soft, Wonder White, Vogel’s, Irvines, Meadow Fresh, Edmonds and Freya’s. All the operations of the company are under its key employee Peter Margin, who is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Executive Board.

Associated British Foods PLC, Greencore Group PLC, Nestle and Unilever are among the known competitors of the Goodman Fielder in its business in consumers’ goods.

The company’s recorded revenues amount to AUD 2, 426.7 million, which is approximately $1,907.2 million in the fiscal year-end of June 2007, it showed 59.7% increase over 2006. The profit on operations was AUD 355.7 million, which is in approximate value of $279.6 million during the 2007 fiscal year with 49% increase over 2006. Its net profit was AUD 239.8 million, $188.5 million approximately in 2007 fiscal year, it showed a decrease of 37.7% in comparison with 2006.

Goodman Fielder Company History

In 1909, the company opened as Geo Fielder Company. In 1973, the Fielder name was inserted to the name of the company.

As the Goodman Fielder merged with several companies, they changed their name a number of times between 1970s and 80s. For instance, Fielder Gillespie, when they merged with the company of Gillespie Bros Holdings. When they merged with Davis Consolidated Industries, the company’s name became Fielder Gillespie Davis.

The company made a lot of acquisitions from several companies which include Defiance Food Industries, Holbrook’s and Newman’s Sauces, and the division of Burns Philp Consumer Foods, the acquisitions were all made in 1997.

The company also made several divestments. The Singapore retail operations was sold by the company in 1993, 64 percent of the company in Asia in 1996, business of baking and milling in Europe in 1997, Steggles poultry division and Vetta pasta ,Christchurch’s Empire Foods in 2000, and in 2001, the Leiner Davis and Starch Australia.

In 2003, Goodman received an unsolicited occupation offer from Burns, Philp and Co. The company’s board was advised to reject this offer because they planned to offer the company in order to repel the other company’s bid. Philps captured the Goodman board, despite resisting the bid, in 2003. In the same year, the assets of the Goodman bakery were divested by Philps.

In 2005, New Zealand Dairy Foods was acquired by the company from Rank Group.

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