SPC takes on former owner by entering $7 billion drinks market

“The Coca-Colas and the Pepsis and the sweet drinks of the world are really on the decline, because people want something healthy … even when I drink the sugar-free [soft drinks], my kids laugh at me.”

The product currently comes in three flavours: lemon lime, ginger, and berry pomegranate; and is already stocked across Coles, 7-Eleven and a number of independent stores.

SPC Australia, which has had a turbulent history, has been able to turn its fortunes around under the new owners, according to Rifai. The fruit processing business’ future looked in doubt in 2014 when it asked the federal government for money, which the Abbott government denied. It was then able to secure $22 million from the Victorian government on top of $150 million in new investment from Coca-Cola Amatil.

Rifai said SPC had been neglected under Coca-Cola Amatil and that the company’s turnaround involved a clear-out in top levels of management and a shift in internal culture.

“The previous owners had an absolutely awful relationship with the growers, the farmers, and the community in general,” he said. “The business performance with Coles and Woolies, before we bought it, was abysmal.” SPC has since slowly rebuilt relationships and regained trust with farmers and key customers.

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In January this year, the company completed a $111 million capital raising that will fund its “aggressive” growth plans to expand internationally.

SPC goes global

To take the company global, SPC has hired an executive general manager based in Singapore to help it find pathways into the Asia-Pacific region. It already has a factory in Thailand, where it is hoping to expand its exports – tropical fruits like mango, papaya, pineapple – to more Asian markets like Japan and South Korea.

The company is also eyeing joint ventures and acquisitions around the world, such as Spain and Portugal, which will give the company access to the European market as well as the North African market.

“Remember, at the end of the day, fundamentally, we started as a fruit company. That’s a category we can never lose,” Rifai said, also pointing to SPC’s iconic Ardmona tomato.

“We want to take that to the rest of the world … Our tomato, frankly, in any blind taste test, beats the hell out of any other imported tomato.”

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