Out to spread appeal
Bega looks to new markets as it gets hands on Vegemite
BEGA Cheese executive chairman Barry Irvin says the dairy and food group will ramp up efforts to introduce foreign tastebuds to the salty pleasures of Vegemite.
It will also move to breathe new life into its local marketing effort to ensure Vegemite remains a pantry staple in modern, multicultural Australia, he says.
Mr Irvin spoke as Bega prepared to take control of Vegemite, with its $460 million deal to buy the iconic spread from US food titan Mondelez due to be officially signed off last night.
The deal returns Vegemite to Australian ownership and hands Bega rights to a suite of other brands in Australia, including ZoOsh and Bonox, as well as a manufacturing plant in Port Melbourne.
Aussie expats have been able to get their Vegemite fix in popular destinations such as Britain but Mr Irvin said Bega was keen to broaden the spread’s appeal by looking at new markets such as Asia.
“I don’t say we plan to convert the world to Vegemite but we have been successful in establishing the Bega brand in more than 40 countries around the world and we aim to leverage those channels,” he said.
Mr Irvin said the latest national census findings, which showed more than a quarter of the population was born overseas, would help inform a new approach to marketing Vegemite in its home market.
“Australia keeps changing and we want to make sure we change with it,” he said.
Bega has sold two dairy plants and tapped shareholders for a $160 million capital injection to help fund the Mondelez deal.
Analysts have suggested Bega might sell and lease back its newly acquired Port Melbourne factory to fund the deal but Mr Irvin yesterday ruled that out, saying he was comfortable with the group’s debt level following the capital raising program.
“Perhaps it’s the dairy farmer in me but I like to own my assets,” he said.
Bega has been a bright spot in a depressed dairy industry, with its share price up 15 per cent in the past year.