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The newly merged Close The Loop has acquired Queensland-based seafood packaging operation Oceanic Agencies, to boost its offering to the aquaculture market.

O F Packaging, now part of the Close The Loop Group, is already a major player in seafood packaging, here and in overseas markets, and says the Oceania acquisition will bring complementary solutions to the business.

Joe Foster, CEO of Close the Loop, said, “We will continue to run Oceanic Agencies as a stand-alone business under its own brand, and will leverage the capabilities of both companies into each other.”

O F Packaging has a large customer base of seafood producers around the world, with a major manufacturing site in South Africa under its Foster International brand.

Foster said, “We have a lot of seafood customers, and expect the market to grow. Oceanic has some different products to us. It is a market we know well.”

Based just outside Noosa in Queensland, Oceanic Agencies will remain in its current location, with its current staff, apart from the owners, who are now retiring.

Foster said, “Retaining the brand will keep it focused.”

Food & Drink Business

Western Australian producer, Brownes Dairy, has been put up for sale according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), as one of its biggest lenders, China Mengniu Dairy, calls in its $200 million loan. A reduced demand for milk in China and the current positioning of the global market could be driving the decision.

The Central Coast is about to receive a boost to its local food and beverage manufacturing industry, with construction starting on the $17.14 million Food Manufacturing Innovation Hub, funded by the federal government’s National Reconstruction Fund (NFR).

The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) says Australia is at a “critical crossroads” when it comes to R&D and decades of rhetoric have not delivered material change.