Maggie Beer Holdings board shake-up as Bickford's secures seats
Cordial maker Bickford’s has secured two seats in the boardroom of the Maggie Beer gourmet foods business, amid a management shake up aimed at reviving the iconic brand.
Management of the struggling gourmet foods business inspired by celebrity chef Maggie Beer has been shaken up, with one of its newest and largest shareholders, cordial maker Bickford’s, securing two seats on the company’s board.
Bickford’s head of sales, marketing & hospitality Chris Illman and general counsel Rebecca Tolhurst were both voted in as directors of ASX-listed Maggie Beer Holdings by shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting held in Tanunda on Wednesday.
Chairman Mark Lindh was also re-elected, while major shareholder and former chair Susan Thomas pulled out of a bid for re-election just a day before Wednesday’s meeting.
The changes follow a building up of the Bickford’s stake in Maggie Beer Holdings, which has struggled to convert the star power of Maggie Beer into sales growth across its range of jams, chutneys, condiments and other gourmet food products.
Bickford’s owns 17.4 per cent of the company, and it is now looking to exert some influence over decision making at the highest level.
The Crotti family behind the San Remo pasta empire has also emerged as a major Maggie Beer shareholder, securing a 13 per cent stake in the company last month. It did not seek a board seat at Wednesday’s meeting.
Addressing shareholders at the meeting, Mr Lindh said he welcomed the investment from the Kotses and Crotti families, adding that the company would be “guided by those in our sector with exceptional experience and outcomes” when considering opportunities for future acquisitions and growth.
“I welcome the recent and significant investment in the business from highly experienced and successful industry executives and business owners Angelo Kotses and Maurice Crotti,” he said.
“Having spoken separately with them on a number of occasions I firmly believe their interests are not only aligned with all shareholders but that they bring hard won insights and deep experience in a competitive sector in which we operate.
“Both our Maggie Beer and Hampers divisions must, in the short term, become self-sustaining, stand-alone profitable units. In short, they need to earn the right to grow and be worthy of being part of a listed entity.
“That growth will then come from adding scale – organically or through carefully selected acquisitions.”
Mr Lindh has led a restructure, asset sell-off and cost-cutting program to stem years of losses, which ballooned out to $28.2m in 2023-24, before improving slightly to $24.3m last financial year.
It followed a series of poor investments, including dairy business Paris Creek Farms, which was sold off earlier this year for just $500,000, after Maggie Beer Holdings paid $34m for the business in 2017.
Mr Lindh told shareholders “staying true to our brand” would enable the company to withstand intense competition from “low-cost, discount-driven, global online and multinational players”
“Many consumer-facing Australian brands in our sector are not just surviving but thriving by staying true to their values, focusing on quality, and being unashamedly Australian and put simply, the name Maggie Beer is synonymous with quality and is untouchable in my view in the market,” he said.
“While cost of living pressures will always impact customers, we believe Australians will increasingly turn to local products they trust, from producers who are credible.”
Maggie Beer is no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of the business but she remains on the board and also owns shares in the company.
After dipping to as low as 5c earlier this year, the company’s shares have almost doubled since Bickford’s lifted its stake a little over a month ago. Shares were trading at 11c on Wednesday.
Originally published as Maggie Beer Holdings board shake-up as Bickford's secures seats
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