Goodman Fielder has bought a small milk producer in New Zealand and scored top shelf space for its existing milk brand, plus a home brand supply agreement, in almost half of Kiwi supermarkets.
Australia's biggest listed food group announced yesterday that it had bought Independent Dairy Producers, foran undisclosed sum.
A Goodman Fielder spokesperson later confirmed the IDP buy was a "relatively small" transaction.
In March, Goodman Fielder announced the acquisition of Adelaide-based dip maker Copperpot, its first dairy buy in Australia, as part of a goal to develop a transtasman dairy business.
At the time, chief executive Peter Margin, who is a former head of Australian dairy producer National Foods, said Goodman Fielder was looking for acquisitions below the A$100 million ($110 million) mark.
IDP processes and supplies town milk under the Cow and Gate brand to dairies and small retailers in Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga and Hamilton.
Goodman Fielder already owns the Meadowfresh milk brand in New Zealand, and has just won a contract to supply about 30 million litres of house brand milk to supermarkets run by Progressive Enterprises.
Progressive is owned by Australia's Woolworths and runs the Foodtown, Woolworths and Countdown supermarket chains.
Goodman Fielder also announced that it had entered into a partnership with the Grate Kiwi Cheese Company, to supply cutting and wrapping for its cheeses.
