SPC to sell IXL jam division
Coca-Cola Amatil's SPC unit has is looking for buyers for its IXL Jam brand and Taylors marinades.
IXL is the second biggest jam brand in Australia after Cottee's.
The company, founded by Tasmanian Henry Jones in Hobart in 1981, adopted its name as a play on Jones’ motto 'I excel', moving to Victoria after taking over the Jam Factory in Prahran.
"IXL and Taylors are great brands, but the spreads and sauces/marinades categories are a relatively small part of the overall portfolio and we've concluded we are best to focus on the areas where we have a distinct competitive advantage," said SPC managing director Reg Weine.
Other divisions – tomatoes, packaged fruit, baked beans and spaghetti – were growing, but the jam business was in decline.
Coca-Cola Amatil acquired SPC in 2005.
Before SPC bought the jam business in 2004, both Henry Jones IXL and Taylors had been owned by JM Smucker which had bought IXL from Goodman Fielder, which in turn had bought it from John Elliot's Elders IXL conglomerate in 1984s.
TPP lives, without Trump
The Export Council of Australia is celebrating an end to negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal, after almost a decade of talks.
Australia and 10 other nations intend to sign the revised trade deal later this year, creating a trade zone with a combined membership gross domestic product of $13.7 trillion.
Benefits expected for Australian agriculture include the proposed abolition of tariffs on sheepmeat, wool, cotton, seafood and wine across the region
Early last year United States president Donald Trump quit the pact claiming it would not help US trade.
“Even without the US, the TPP will provide significant new and improved market access for Australian exporters,” said Export Council policy head, Heath Baker
”It’s important to finally turn the TPP into reality.”
In addition to providing new access to major markets such as Canada and Mexico, the TPP also has a number of provisions that make tangible improvements to doing business between TPP members, such as making it easier for goods and data to flow.
‘Bilateral agreements are good, but when it comes to trade agreements, bigger is better’ Mr Baker said.
New at CropLogic
Newly listed agronomy and crop technical analysis company, CropLogic, has appointed David de Cuevas as chief operating officer to focus on expanding operations.
He was previously sales performance general manager with 2degrees New Zealand.
He has extensive experience within the financial services, manufacturing, telecommunication, and technology sectors.
Managing director, Jamie Cairns, said Mr de Cuevas would lead the company’s operations in its upcoming deployment of up to 1000 new moisture and weather monitoring probes in crops in the US.
He replaces Matthew Journee in the chief operating officer role, who has been involved in the ongoing development of early-stage technology deployed by the company.
CropLogic systems have been developed with the benefit of 500 field trials in Australia, China, New Zealand, and the US, launching commercially in Washington State, last year.
Outlook 2018 conference
The ABARES Outlook 2018 conference – Australia’s premier information and networking forum for the agriculture and economics sectors – will be held on March 6 and 7 at Canberra’s National Convention Centre.
Delegates from across agricultural industries will hear from leading national and international speakers.
The line up this year includes Tasmanian dairy identity and Moon Lake Investments managing director, Sean Shwe; Hancock Agriculture boss, David Larkin; Pat McEntee from Woolworths, and producer Michael Craig from Tuloona Pastoral in Victoria, who will examining the topic of adding value in competitive livestock markets.
Registration costs $1000 per person.
- Contact conferences@agriculture.gov.au
Hydroponic event
The 11th Hydroponic Farmers Federation Conference will be held at Mantra Bell City, Preston, Melbourne from June 25 to 27.
Last year's HFF Conference saw a 100 per cent increase in delegate numbers and the 2018 meeting is expected to draw even bigger attendance numbers.
Earlybird registrations expire on March 20.
- Visit http://hffconference.org.au