Do we like them?

Do we like Arnott's?

Australian biscuit and snack maker (Tim Tam, Shapes, Iced VoVo) that also makes Campbell's soups under licence; based in Sydney.

Our score: 6 out of 10. A much-loved Aussie brand with no big scandals in what we found. There is an old fine, a live pay dispute, and private equity ownership, so we'd back it only with some caution.

Arnott's goes back to 1865, when it started in Newcastle, NSW. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of US food giant Campbell Soup Company in 1997. Tim Tams, Shapes, Iced VoVos and Tiny Teddys are all Arnott's.

In 2019 Campbell sold Arnott's and its other international operations to US private equity firm KKR for US$2.2 billion in cash, to pay down debt. George Zoghbi, an ex-Kraft Heinz executive, was named CEO in 2020. So it's a household name, but not locally owned.

The Arnott's Group said it would spend $8 million upgrading its Shepparton soup plant in Victoria. That lifts output by 30 per cent, and the CEO said it secures the plant's medium-term future. It's a decent sign for Australian jobs and suppliers.

The dramas are mostly about labelling and workers. In 2015 the ACCC issued $51,000 in penalties over Shapes Light & Crispy fat claims. In August 2026 about 160 Adelaide workers held a 24-hour strike, which the United Workers Union said followed four years of below-inflation pay rises.

Our score is 6, which is mixed to decent. Nothing we found is scandalous, and it's a long-standing local manufacturer. But we found a past misleading-claims penalty, the pay row and private equity ownership, and the thin search results leave some questions open.