Snackbrands (SBA) is one of the largest suppliers of snack foods in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and acts as the main competitor to the long established The Smith's Snackfood Company. The company was founded in August 1998 as a subsidiary of parent company Snack Foods Limited, with main product lines including Kettle, Cheezels, Natural Chip Co and Thins. The company was acquired by Philippines food and beverage company

Universal Robina Universal Robina Corporation, abbreviated as URC and also known as Universal Robina, is a Philippine company headquartered in Quezon City. It is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the Philippines, along with San Miguel Corporat ...

in 2016 for AUD$600 million (US$461 million) and it is currently owned by the German snack food company

Intersnack Intersnack Group GmbH & Co. KG is a German snack food company that annually produces around 600,000 tonnes of snacks including potato chips, nuts, baked products and specialty snacks. The company made its first potato chips in 1968. The company ...

. The company has more than 400 employees, with Kurt Preshaw as chief executive officer, in which the company had

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

$248.95 million in revenue in 2021–22. Their headquarters office is in Norwest,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

History

In 1998, The Smith's Snackfood Company was acquired by

Frito-Lay Frito-Lay, Inc. (; ) is an American food company that manufactures, markets, and sells snack foods. It began in the early 1930s as two companies, Fritos, the Frito Company and Lay's, H.W. Lay & Company, that merged in 1961. Frito-Lay itself merg ...

(a subsidiary of

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...

). Because these were the two largest producers of salty snack foods in Australia, Frito-Lay agreed with the

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...

to divest a range of brands to ensure adequate competition. Additionally, several manufacturing facilities were released including plants in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and Victoria. This package was named 'Snack Brands Australia' and was sold to Dollar Sweets Holdings. In September 2012, Snackbrands became an associated member of the

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was established in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable palm oil products through global standards and multistakeholder governance. The seat of the association is ...

(RSPO). In 2016, Philippine food and beverage company Universal Robina Corporation (URC) acquired Snack Brands Australia for A$600 million (US$461 million), including its entirety of product lines and the two existing manufacturing facilities located in Smithfield and

Blacktown Blacktown is a suburb in New South Wales, Australia, west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Sydney, Greater Sydney. History Before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the area of ...

in Sydney, Australia. The acquisition process spawned from Snack Brands compounded annual growth rate of 7.4% over the previous 4 years. Later in 2016, Snackbrands Australia merged with 40-year-old company New World Foods in attempt to extend the growth and share of the rapidly expanding brand. This included the acquisition of Local Legends Jerky, which were distributed throughout Australia, Asia and the United Kingdom. In 2018, plans were approved for the development of a new $200 million distribution centre for Snackbrands Australia in Erskine Park, Sydney. Private equity real estate investor Altis Property Partners were recruited develop the 30,255 square metre logistics facility designed for automated

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

and technology to store and retrieve items. The high bay facility will be leased for an initial 20 years upon its forecasted completion in late 2020. The development and construction process of the 10.42 hectare plant is managed by TM Insight, a global supply chain and property consultancy. It was one of the largest industrial property deals in the 2018 financial year. 74 The end value of the facility was projected at $400 million. In December 2019, URC and German company

formed Unisnack ANZ, a joint venture comprising Snack Brands Australia and

Griffin's Foods The Griffin's Foods Company is a New Zealand food industry, food company currently headquartered in Auckland and established by John Griffin as a flour and cocoa mill in the city of Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson in 1864. Norwest, with an original manufacturing site in Smithfield, and a new manufacturing site in Orchard Hills, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The company used to also have a manufacturing facility in

, however this site closed in early 2025, with Smithfield due to close in late 2025, leaving the flagship site at Orchard Hills as the sole manufacturing site in Australia. These facilities produce approximately 200 million packets per annum. Product lines include: *

CC's CC's (pronounced ''sea-seas'' and short for “corn chips”) is an Australian brand of flavoured tortilla chips produced since the early 1980s, originally by The Smith's Snackfood Company, and currently by Snack Brands Australia. CC's are pred ...

* Thins * Kettle * The Natural Chip Co. * The Natural Cracker Co. * Cheezels * French Fries * Jumpy’s * Samboy * Chickadees

Sustainability

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)

In September 2012, Snackbrands became an associated member of the

(RSPO). RSPO is a transnational

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

established to encourage, develop and advance the attainment, production, funding and practise of

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

products. In 2013, Snackbrands made a publicised commitment to use 100% RSPO certified sustainable palm oil in all manufactured products by 2020, which has been fulfilled; predominantly in the production of Kettle Chips. In October 2014, they began supply of 100% RSPO certified sustainable palm oil in procurement via the “mass balance” methodology. In February 2015, Snackbrands owned Australian manufacturing sites underwent a RSPO certification audit for Segregated Palm oil and gained certification. This certification was integrated into the development of the $200 million distribution centre in 2018, with annual audits from RSPO. In 2019, Snackbrands used a total volume of 8,560 tonnes of crude and refined palm oil, 100% of which is RSPO certified sustainable.

References

External links

Official website

ACCC Report
{{JG Summit Holdings Australian snack foods Food and drink companies established in 1998 Snack food manufacturers of Australia Australian subsidiaries of foreign companies Australian companies established in 1998 Former JG Summit Holdings subsidiaries Former joint ventures Intersnack