Page 4 - Australian Pork Newspaper

BE Campbell employs about 700 people at its NSW processing plants at Weatherill Park and Arndell Park.
BE Campbell sources pigs from independent pork producers across the country.
BE Campbell bid for Rivalea knocked down but not out
ON June 8, Rivalea owner QAF announced global meat processing company JBS as the winning bidder for the business.
Predictably, the JBS acquisition of Rivalea is now subject to Aus- tralian Competition and Consumer Commission and Foreign Investment Review Board determina- tions before it can pro- ceed.
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it may ultimately affect pork prices.
Typically, any mean- ingful increase in total pig supply causes pig prices to fall, which larger vertically integrated players can more easily withstand, leaving inde- pendent farmers to either pull back numbers, exit the industry or both.
Cant
Comment
by BRENDON CANT
JBS bid $175m.
The drastically in- creased concentration of pig supply and slaughter services would enable JBS to act without effec- tive constraint, and with the ability to control key segments of the supply chain.
If the JBS acquisition of Rivalea goes ahead, it will make JBS the biggest pork producer in Australia.
Established in 1969 by Bruce Campbell and based in NSW, BE Camp- bell is a leading Aus- tralian family-owned and operated pork processor and wholesaler, pro- cessing and distributing fresh Australian meat and meat products and spe- cialising in pork cuts.
The company out- sources slaughtering and processes the carcasses at one of its two facilities.
JBS and the large multi- national meat companies, including Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods and Cargill, use their size and global presence to create efficiencies that enable them to produce a variety of quality foods at a lower price.
It is already the biggest meat processor in the country.
With a fleet of 30 refrig- erated trucks, BE Camp- bell distributes its prod- ucts to multiple channels including supermarkets, restaurants and cafes, re- tail butchers, smallgoods producers and other food service providers.
JBS Australian op- erations include a vast network of processing, export and feedlot op- erations, plus the largest smallgoods manufacturer Primo Foods, Andrews Meat Industries, Tasman Group, Rockdale Beef and Australian Meat Holdings.
BE Campbell employs about 700 staff and owns two sites in NSW – the flagship Weatherill Park pork deboning and pro- cessing plant, with ca- pacity to process 15,000
It also exports to over- seas markets.
JBS has indicated its plans to invest, expand and grow more pigs, which is in line with their track record in other pro- teins and jurisdictions.
But many agricultural economists and food mar- keting analysts say when so few companies control the market, they can drive smaller operators out of business, reducing com- petition and occasionally raising prices for con- sumers.
Some industry observers have concerns about the impact of JBS dominance as a multinational com- pany, its increased bar- gaining power and how
This has raised some concerns among inde- pendent pork producers due to the delicate supply and demand dynamic of Australia’s pork industry.
This is one possible out- come of JBS acquiring Rivalea, and one of con- cern.
Its proposed purchase of Rivalea would make JBS the owner of three of the four export ac- credited slaughtering fa- cilities across southeast Australia, representing 75 percent of slaughter ser- vices across NSW, Vic- toria and South Australia.
Internationally, only 14 years ago JBS did not own a single US meat plant.
The ACCC has pub- licly signalled its plans to commence an investi- gation into the proposed acquisition by JBS and has also indicated it will invite public submissions and consult with industry participants as part of its review.
The ACCC has acknowl- edged that family-owned Australian business BE Campbell was the unsuc- cessful bidder and that it had ACCC pre-approval for the purchase.
pigs a week, and the Arn- dell Park multi-species processing plant, with weekly capacity of 400 tonnes.
Today, JBS and three other food companies control nearly 70 percent of the pork market and about 85 percent of beef production.
BE Campbell has pub- licly expressed its disap- pointment at the decision to sell to JBS and has raised competition con- cerns.
BE Campbell sources its pigs from a network of high-performing inde- pendent producers across the country.
This issue had been pre- viously flagged by the ACCC’s Rod Sims in JBS USA Holdings Inc’s ac- quisition of Primo, and said that the commission is “wary of the potential impact of further con- solidation of abattoirs” and that “the ACCC will continue to monitor this industry and any future acquisitions will face ad- ditional scrutiny.”
JBS and Tyson Foods control about 40 percent of the poultry market.
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Page 4 – Australian Pork Newspaper, August 2021
With more than 100 years of rich pastoral history behind them, Bruce and Marie Campbell founded BE Campbell in 1969. Still family owned, it now offers a vertically integrated supply chain of meat processing,
portioning and value adding.
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