- Freedom Foods Group (FNP) has seen demand spike for its long-life dairy and plant beverages, as well as cereals and snacks
- The company is currently prioritising UHT milk deliveries and expects to continue meeting demand
- As COVID-19 worsens, shoppers are buying long-life products and non-perishables to stock up their homes
- The company currently operates the Shepparton UHT facility in Victoria, which can produce up to 350 million litres of UHT milk a year.
- Freedom Foods is down a slight 0.21 per cent this morning, with shares trading for $4.85 each
Freedom Foods Group (FNP) has seen product demand spike, as COVID-19 worsens and supermarket shoppers stock up.
Specifically, the company has seen increased demand for its UHT dairy and plant beverages, cereals and snacks. As a result, the company has decided to prioritise its supply of UHT dairy milk to ensure there isn’t a shortfall.
UHT milk, also known as long-life milk, has been in high demand as shoppers stock there cupboards with non-perishables.
Demand is likely to continue if the Australian government further tightens its COVID-19 response. With all newly-arrived residents now being asked to self-isolate, many customers are making sure they have a two-week supply of food and water on hand.
To manage demand, supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths are already limiting certain products to one or two per customer. These currently include toilet paper, dried pasta and chilled white milk.
Currently, neither Coles nor Woolworths have restricted the sale of UHT milk.
Freedom Foods stated in today’s announcement that it does not see any current supply issues and expects to keep meeting demand.
The company currently operates the Shepparton UHT facility in Victoria. The site is near the border with New South Wales, Australia’s current COVID-19 hotspot. Consequently, Freedom foods has implement a number of protocols to limit COVID-19’s impact on its UHT manufacturing hub.
The Shepparton UHT facility is forecast to process 350 million litres of milk over 2020. The company is also upgrading the facility, which will increase the site’s capacity to 500 million litres a year.
Freedom Foods is down a slight 0.21 per cent this morning, with shares trading for $4.85 each at 12:12 pm AEDT.