The Australian Wool Testing Authority Ltd (AWTA Ltd) has acquired Werribee based grain and food testing business Agrifood Technology from AWB Ltd.
Mr Michael Jackson, AWTA Ltd’s Managing Director said: “As a consequence of the decline in Australian wool production over the past decade, AWTA Ltd has adopted a policy of expanding its operations by diversifying into related testing markets. This policy has resulted in the acquisition of the New Zealand Wool Testing Authority Ltd, the establishment of JinAo Testing Co Ltd in China (a joint venture testing laboratory) and the ongoing expansion of the testing capabilities of its Product Testing Division in Australia.”
“The purchase of Agrifood Technology continues this diversification into related areas where independent testing is a necessary part of the value chain.”
Agrifood Technology provides a range of services to the Australian grain, food and feed industries for physical, chemical and end-product testing. The Agrifood test results provide valuable information for use in all areas of agribusiness, assisting commercial businesses to market quality products for the food and feed markets.
“AWTA Ltd has built a highly successful business providing independent test information to the wool industry. The experience and expertise that have been developed over 50 years will be applied to the Agrifood Technology business. AWTA Ltd’s purchase positions Agrifood Technology to be the independent test house of choice for all participants in the grain industry”, Mr Jackson said.
Agrifood Technology will continue to be run by its team of professional staff based at its Werribee laboratory complex. For Agrifood Technology’s customers, it will be business as usual following the change of ownership to AWTA Ltd on 1 February 2008.