NewsBite

Food & drink

Yesterday

Mainland Group’s René Dedoncker met fund managers in Sydney on Tuesday and will do the same in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Fonterra’s Mainland IPO milks investor thirst for new ideas

The guts of the business is to take milk from Australia and New Zealand farms, turn it into cheese and butter, and sell it regionally. Is that tasty enough in volatile markets?

This Month

Starbucks said it would appeal the “excessive” damages and said it did not believe it was responsible for the accident.

Delivery driver awarded $79m after spilling Starbucks tea on his lap

The global coffeehouse chain was accused of breaching its duty of care after its staff did not fully push the drink into its takeaway tray.

“Shop Canadian” signs on grocery store shelves in Victoria, British Columbia.

Top Canadian supermarket says sales of US products ‘rapidly’ dropping

The chief executive of grocery chains owner Empire said that customers have been “loud and clear” that they want domestic products.

Wallaby Foods products as featured in Coles catalogue.

Soulfresh squad acquires Byron Bay-based healthy snack maker

Didi Lo has led a consortium bid for Wallaby Foods, whose factory supplies to Coles and Woolworths stores around the country.

This restaurant is one of the world’s best (and one of the weirdest)

Zuckerberg, silicon brains and space bread – step inside Alchemist in Copenhagen, the world’s most challenging restaurant.

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Caledonia co-chief investment officers Mike Messara and Will Vicars. The fund can fall in love with some of its stocks and can be reluctant to sell. It is not a quick-flipper.

A 63pc premium for Just Eats? Major investor Caledonia is unimpressed

The food delivery sector is red-hot for deals despite some spectacular blow-ups. That land grab has come to one of the high-profile fund’s core holdings.

February

Tim Zhao is portfolio manager of Lazard’s Australian equity strategies.

Why Lazard is tipping a turnaround in these ASX fast food stocks

Tim Zhao says the latest banks sell-off could be the start of a correction and expects struggling quick service restaurant operators to reverse their fortunes.

Coles will pay an interim dividend of 37 cents per share.

Coles sales growth beats Woolworths, dividend rises

The retail giant also gained from industrial action at its rival in December, which resulted in empty shelves and customers defecting.

Woolworths chief executive Amanda Bardwell faced a difficult reception on the company’s investor call.

Woolworths unleashes $400m in cost cuts to convince market it can grow

Chief executive Amanda Bardwell faces a market increasingly concerned about the supermarket’s trajectory as profits fall.

Krispy Kreme has a network of 40 company operated stores and 10 production fascilities across Australia and New Zealand.

Project Macaroon: Krispy Kreme Australia sale on the cards

The North Carolina-headquartered multinational wants a new partner to own and operate its local business and drive growth.

McDonald’s crew trainer Connor Boyle.

Inside the fight over McDonald’s 100,000 low-paid worker army

Crew trainer Connor Boyle is part of a test case to extend multi-employer bargaining laws to the types of workforces unions have always struggled to organise.

Prego, owned by KKR’s The Arnott’s Group, has more than a 90 per cent-plus market share in dry pasta and sauces in Malaysia.

KKR taste tests divestments at Tim Tam-maker Arnott’s

KKR’s local PE boss David Laing is taking advice from UBS around The Arnott’s Group’s Asian business, which sells consumer staples like pastas, sauces and cooking stock.

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises is closing hundreds of stores in Japan, Europe and Australia.

Domino’s to shutter hundreds of stores as new CEO swings the axe

Mark van Dyck says it will be the last round of large-scale store closures in a pullback on ambitious expansion plans.

The MAGA crowd’s venue of choice in DC is owned by an Aussie lawyer.

The Australian lawyer behind DC’s new MAGA hangout

From Steve Bannon to Sean Spicer, clubhouse Butterworth’s has become the place to be seen for Republican operatives. And a former Liberal staffer is its biggest backer.

A Woolworths Metro store in Sydney. The company is hoping to boost sales after a difficult year.

Woolworths restructures to supercharge lacklustre supermarket growth

The company’s chief executive Amanda Bardwell has elevated a long-time executive to oversee a combined supermarkets and home-brand products division.

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The Coles distribution centre in Truganina, in Melbourne’s west. The company has been working to cut down on the items available on its shelves.

Coles calls in Bain as it slashes the number of products on shelves

Australia’s second-largest supermarket chain quietly wants to reduce its range by at least 10 per cent – a move which should lead to higher profits.

El Jannah started as a single store in suburban Granville when it was founded in 1998 by Andre and Carole Estephan.

Cult chicken chain El Jannah says sales will push $300m this year

The popular Lebanese outlet’s chief executive is planning to nearly triple the number of stores in the next two years as it takes on major fast-food chains.

January

Gage Roads is the flagship beer brand at Good Drinks Australia - which spurned the ASX and voluntarily delisted.

The beer company that quit the ASX and never looked back

Australia’s fourth-largest beer group, Good Drinks Australia, chose to delist after it felt the sharemarket wasn’t giving it a good deal.

Maggie Beer has been one of the most recognised cooks in the country for decades. But her food products business has struggled to replicate that success.

Maggie Beer ponders how to save an empire built on verjuice

The food producer named after the country’s best-known cook has had a dismal two years. Will chairwoman Sue Thomas’ turnaround plan save the iconic brand?

Hawkers Beer founder and CEO Mazen Hajjar and staff member Yostina Askander.

It’s beer o’clock as craft brewers White Bay and Hawkers team up

The new group, dubbed Social Drinks, will hit the ground running on February 1 with an additional $1.5 million in the bank.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/food---drink-hv8