So Natural Foods

OVERALL
Owned	AUS
Rating

Canned fish and soy product producers

At an extraordinary general meeting held on 1 February 2007, shareholders approved the change of name from So Natural Foods Australia Ltd to Freedom Nutritional Products Ltd. In December 2004, So Natural entered into a joint venture with a subsidiary of privately owned investment company Arrovest Pty Ltd to relocate its beverage contract manufacturing to a farm in Sydney's outer west.In June, So Natural was the target of a $20 million takeover bid by Arrovest, which now has 78 per cent of the company.

Company Ownership

So Natural Foods Australia Ltd	AUS	website	email
Noumi Ltd       owns 100% of So Natural Foods Australia Ltd	AUS	website	email	facebook	twitter
Dietetic and health food products Previously Freedom Foods. Arrovest / The Perich Group (NSW's biggest dairy producer) is the majority shareholder. Major exporter to China. Sold its cereals and snacks division to private equity-owned Arnott's Group, and its seafood business to Tempo Foods, in 2021.
Arrovest Pty Ltd           owns 52% of Noumi Ltd	AUS	website
Investment company Arrovest is a privately-owned family investment company, whose board consists solely of the Perich family. BRW estimates (Tony) Perich's wealth at $637 million. As well as owning most of Freedom Foods Group, the Perich family also have interests in the dairy and motorsports industries.

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Company Assessment

PRAISE	CRITICISM	INFORMATION
So Natural Foods Australia Ltd
No assessment data currently available for So Natural Foods Australia Ltd
Noumi Ltd
3/5 for packaging performance This company received a packaging performance level of 3 (Advanced) in its 2023 APCO Annual Report. Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) is a not-for-profit organisation leading the development of a circular economy for packaging in Australia. Each year, APCO Members are required to submit an APCO Annual Report and Action Plan, which includes an overall performance level from 1 (Getting Started) to 5 (Beyond Best Practice). Source: APCO (2023)		Underpaying workers In 2019 Freedom Foods was accused of underpaying, exploiting migrant workers in Shepparton dairy. The National Union of Workers (NUW) claims that migrant workers employed by Freedom Foods are performing tasks not covered under the skilled worker visa scheme, and are being severely underpaid. Source: ABC News (2019) Blue Diamond court case In November 2021 Freedom Foods agreed to pay $48 million to settle a court case brought by a key supplier, California-based Blue Diamond Almond Growers, over breaches of their licence agreement. Source: AFR (2021) Palm oil free products Some, but not necessarily all, of this company's products are palm oil free, or contain segregated certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO). For more details, follow the link to see Borneo Orangutan Survival Australia's list of products which manufacturers have told them are palm oil free or contain segregated certified sustainable palm oil. Source: BOS Australia (2020) Organic products This company manufactures or distributes products that are certified organic under the Australian Certified Organic label. Source: ACO (2022) MAIF signatory This company is a signatory to the Manufacturers and Importers Agreement 1992 (MAIF), a voluntary self-regulatory code of conduct between the manufacturers and importers of infant formula in Australia. The MAIF Agreement aims to contribute to the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for infants, by the protection and promotion of breastfeeding and by ensuring the proper use of breast milk substitutes, when they are necessary, on the basis of adequate information through appropriate marketing and distribution. Source: Australian Govt Dept of Health (2019) Monkey-free coconuts Monkeys in Thailand are kept chained, trained using abusive methods, and forced to climb trees to pick coconuts used for coconut milk, oil, and other products. This company has policies of sourcing from farms where no monkey labour is used. Source: PETA Asia (2020) Non-GMO products in USA This company has products that have been verified as compliant with the Non-GMO Project Standard, North America's only independent verification for products made according to best practices for GMO avoidance. Source: Non-GMO Project (2021) Chinese investment China's biggest private ­agricultural company, New Hope, will invest up to $500 million in Australian dairy farms and processing plants as part of a deal with Freedom Foods in what could be the first of many deals fuelled by the China-Australia free-trade agreement. Source: news article (2014) No tax paid in 2019-20 According to data released by the Australian Tax Office in Jan 2022, this company was one of many local and foreign-based companies that paid no tax in Australia in 2019-20. Please note however that companies pay income tax on profits, not revenue (total income). While some companies use tax havens and loopholes to avoid paying their fair share of tax in Australia, other companies that paid no tax have perfectly legitimate reasons. Source: ATO (2022)
Arrovest Pty Ltd
		Political donations According to the democracyforsale.net website, this company donated $62,700 to Australia's major political parties between 2012 and 2018, as disclosed to the Australian Electoral Commision (AEC). Source: Democracy For Sale (2018)

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