Bega’s big expansion

BEGA Cheese has expanded with the $250 million purchase of the milk processing plant at Koroit, near Warrnambool, from a rival dairy company.

Canadian dairy titan Saputo, which has become a major player in the Australian market, has agreed to sell the plant to Bega.

Their deal was forced by the competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

The regulator was concerned Saputo and Kiwi-based counterpart Fonterra Cooperative would have too much power over farmers in the western districts of Victoria following Saputo’s $1.3 billion buyout of Murray Goulburn.

Saputo is now the biggest milk processor in Australia, with an output of three billion litres a year. Bega chief Paul van Heerwaarden said in a statement that the Koroit facility would “provide us with a significant presence in Western Victoria with operational flexibility with our other milk processing sites”.