Mondelēz has reached an agreement to sell most of its grocery business in Australia and New Zealand to Bega Cheese for $460 million AUD. The transaction adds the iconic Vegemite brand and other well-established grocery brands to Bega’s portfolio.
The move enables Mondelēz International to further focus its portfolio and drive profitable growth by investing in its core snacks categories and Power Brands, including Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate and Oreo biscuits.
Alice Yu, Research Analyst from Euromonitor International commented: “The addition of the iconic Vegemite brand as well as a number of household Kraft products will build Bega Cheese’s reputation as an iconic Aussie company, as well as allowing Bega Cheese to diversify out of cheese to other products.”
Included in the sale are other products that use the Kraft brand under license, such as peanut butter, nut spreads, processed cheese slices, ambient cheese spread, mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, Kraft Easy Mac and Kraft Mac & Cheese. Bega will receive a license to the Dairylea brand for use in Australia and New Zealand. The Philadelphia business is not included in the deal as it is a Mondelēz International Power Brand. The Port Melbourne manufacturing site will transfer to Bega as part of this agreement and approximately 200 colleagues who spend most of their time working on this part of the business will be offered roles on comparable terms with Bega. The transaction is expected to close in the coming months.
