Bega Cheese

OVERALL
Owned	AUS
Rating

Dairy product manufacturer

Founded in 1899 in the Bega Valley, NSW. Today the company is a major cheese producer supplied by 500 dairy farms from NSW and VIC, with one factory in Bega and two in Victoria. Acquired 70% of Tatura Milk Industries in 2007, and the remaining 30% in 2011. Changed corporate structure from a co-operative to an unlisted public company in 2008, and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in 2011. All Bega branded cheese products are marketed in Australia by Fonterra. Acquired the Vegemite brand and Kraft license from Mondelez Australia in Jan 2017.

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Company Assessment

PRAISE	CRITICISM	INFORMATION
Bega Cheese Ltd
Australian Packaging Covenant signatory Signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, a voluntary agreement to encourage waste minimisation. Source: Australian Packaging Covenant (2020)	22/100 S&P Global ESG Score This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 22/100 in the Food Products category of the 2019 SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices. The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices. Source: S&P Global (2019)	Fined for excessive smoke In Dec 2015 the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) issued a $15,000 penalty notice to this company for using wet sawdust fuel in its wood-fired boiler at the Lagoon Street premises, leading to a discharge of excessive smoke. Source: EPA (2016) Organic products Some of this company's products are certified organic by NASAA. Source: NASAA (2018) Palm oil free products Some, but not necessarily all, of this company's spreads are palm oil free. 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) Environmental claims This company has environmental claims, policy documents and a Sustainability Report on its website. Source: company website (2016) Former CEO guilty of child sexual abuse In 2014 a former CEO of Bega Cheese pleaded guilty to multiple charges of child sexual abuse on the NSW far south coast. Maurice Van Ryn sexually abused and indecently assaulted six boys at his Tathra home over the past eight years. Van Ryn was CEO of Bega Cheese from 1990 to 2005. Source: news article (2014) No tax paid in 2016/7 According to data released by the Australian Tax Office in Dec 2018, this company was one of 2,159 local and foreign-based companies that paid no tax in Australia in 2016-17. 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 (2018)

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Company Details

Type	Public company
Revenue	$1.4 billion in 2019
Employees	2,000 in 2019
Aus Manufacturing	Yes
Subsidiaries	Tatura Milk Industries Ltd  Dairy product manufacturing Bega Cheese acquired 70% of this company in 2007, and the remaining 30% in 2011. 60% of production is exported. Capitol Chilled Foods (Australia) Pty Ltd (50% owned)  Dairy Joint venture between Lion Dairy & Drinks and the Bega Cheese. It is the only dairy manufacturer in the ACT. They also distribute a number of Lion and Bega brands in the ACT.

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