SPC and Döhler sign off on new joint venture

SPC and a major German food ingredients manufacturer have signed off on a new joint venture designed to extend the Goulburn Valley cannery’s global reach.

SPC chair Hussein Rifai says the company’s partnership with Döhler is in line with a strategy to become a global player in food production. Picture: John Feder

FRUIT processor SPC has partnered with a German food powerhouse to accelerate its push into global markets and extend its offering beyond the canned food aisle.

The Shepparton-based business has signed off on a joint venture with Döhler, a specialist in producing “technology-driven” natural ingredients.

Döhler formulates thousands of products used in the food manufacturing industry, such as natural colours and coating used on confectionary, fruit gums with botanical extracts and proteins.

The joint venture, called Gourmet Ingredients, will develop intellectual property in Australia that will be marketed and sold through Döhler’s customers across 130 countries.

SPC chair Hussein Rifai said the joint venture was a vital stepping stone to extending SPC’s reach beyond Australian shores.

“We have always said, for SPC to grow, we need to develop channels outside of retail, and this is one of those channels,” he said.

“Because we’re partnering with a massive company, we’re putting a foot in the door to the international market, it’s a critical path for us. One of our main strategies is to go overseas, and it doesn’t have to be with retail products like tomatoes or beans.”

The seeds of the marriage between Australia’s largest cannery and the German ingredients company were sown at Anuga, one of the biggest annual food fairs held in Cologne, Germany, in October.

“It was the first time SPC had gone for a very long time,” Mr Rifai said.

“We needed to know what our competitors and the smart people in this space were doing.”

Döhler Australia director Peter Gates said SPC’s expertise in supply processing and manufacturing complimented Döhler’s experience in creating innovate ingredients.

“The joint venture is the perfect marriage to promote and create Australian-grown agriculture raw materials intellectual property that can be sold to the world,” Mr Gates said.

The announcement comes less than two months after SPC purchased Goulburn Valley pomegranate fruit brand PomeLife for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition was billed as a way of broadening SPC’s appeal and push into booming Asian export markets.

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