AUSTRALIA: Big M bought by National Foods

The Victorian Dairy Industry Authority has today (26 September) announced that it is selling the Big M flavoured milk brand to National Foods for an undisclosed sum. Big M was introduced as one of the first flavoured milk products, introduced to the Australian market in 1978.A spokesman from the Dairy foods group National Foods said: "It's been a strong brand in Victoria for 20-odd years and we now have the capability of extending the brand nationally, as the only national processor in Australia. We plan to take it into every state."People living in South Australia drink on average 21 litres of milk a year, and National Foods believe that consumption is on the up: "There's tremendous scope for growth and it's a good, high margin business too."Max Ould, managing director of National Foods, was pleased with the acquisition: "Our Pura Classic flavoured milk brand is primarily an adult brand with a different formulation to Big M so the addition of Big M to our portfolio will be highly complementary. In the last financial year, almost 19m litres of Big M were sold, out of a total Victorian flavoured milk market of around 28m litres."