Simmone Logue snags Woolworths deal with food business making $20m a year

When the pandemic hit, she lost $350,000 a week overnight but now she’s scored a Woolworths deal to stock her products in 950 stores.

Food entrepreneur Simmone Logue had been running her business for 30 years but her team thought she was overplaying the “catastrophe” that Covid would bring when she gathered them at the start of the pandemic into a “war room”.

But her intuition was right. Qantas was a major customer, with her food served in business class, yet overnight she lost $350,000 a week as air travel ground to a halt.

The 58-year-old landed in Sydney from a holiday in Thailand as the virus has begun to spread around the world.

She went straight to her office from the airport, gathering her team together, knowing it was “really big and bad” for the business.

“I got a whiteboard out it and it was like a war room. I challenged my team for a way to cut overheads and pivot and change the business,” she told news.com.au.

“There was a major silver liner and quite often silver linings do come with catastrophic situations if you have the right attitude.”

The changes included closing down the business’ catering arm overnight, pulling out of retail and instead focusing on grocery.

“We knew people would stay at home and restaurants and cafes would be closed, so my guts were right and we were definitely on the front foot,” Ms Logue added.

Simmone Logue could see how bad Covid would be for business. Picture: Instagram

She started out baking cakes and now makes $20m a year. Picture: Instagram

How it all began

Ms Logue describes herself as a “mad foodie” but her first passion was actually ballet.

She left school at 16 to train to become a professional ballet dancing in Sydney but soon realised she was never going to be a star.

Inspired by her granny’s “fantastic cooking” she began to dabble in the kitchen and then her big break came 30 years ago when she sold a honey and walnut loaf to a local cafe for $20.

From there things just “took off” wit her supplying cafes in her local area until one day the door handle fell off her oven at home.

Cakes was where it all began for the 58-year-old. Picture: Instagram

From 500 sales a day to 35,000

She knew it was time to move out of home and set up in a cafe in Balmain, originally wholesaling.

But she said people would knock on her front door to buy her baked goods.

“This was in the day when you couldn’t go to a Woolies or a servo and get a home dinner, so I thought what am I doing just baking cakes? These people need more,” she explained.

“So I started putting up salads, bakes and casseroles and called it homemade therapy for people that are super busy professionals that wanted to feel nurtured. Or for those who wanted cooked home-style food for friends and family that didn’t have the time.

“This whole revolution of home dinners just escalated from that point on. I see myself as probably one of the original comfort food purveyors.”

This move saw the business grow from the shopfront in Balmain with a team of five employees and average sales of 500 pies per week to now having 100 employees and an average of 35,000 pies and quiches sold per day.

Simmone Logue, a ballerina who ‘never made it’, is now a household name, bringing in $20 million annually for her home-style pies, pastries and ready-made meals. Picture: Supplied

‘Bulldog at the gate’

Ms Logue isn’t hands off either describing herself as the “bulldog at the gate” when it comes to protecting her brand.

“No matter what pressures there are, whether its inflation or butter has gone through the roof, I won’t compromise on quality. My team said, ‘Simmone consider margarine’ and I said we might as well close the factory down,” she revealed.

“I always want to be differentiated and the brand I built is that people trust it and the more you start to compromise on quality and brand values then that’s when you can lose a brand overnight.”

This has included abandoning ideas for grocery as she won’t add artificial flavours or preservatives, she said.

“I am a real ‘ideas girl’. There are lessons along the way that I've learned so much about in grocery because I try and keep our rustic home-style hat on all the time,” Ms Logue said.

“The shelf life of something is really hard, the life of a product, and I don’t like to use at all any artificial colours or preservatives, it’s a no-no.

“That’s a real tricky thing.

“I remember trying to launch a fish pie with mashed potato for two but I couldn’t get the shelf life as I wouldn’t put preservatives in so that was disappointing to me.”

People might be surprised to learn that she is also still in charge of replying to all customer’s emails too.

“I'm still responding to every single email that comes into the contact address personally within half an hour,” she said, adding its “very personal” when your name is on the brand.

Part of the new range in Woolworths. Picture: Supplied

Bringing in $400,000 a week

But the tough moves at the beginning of the pandemic has seen Ms Logue not only regain her weekends, but expand her partnership with Woolworths.

The Simmone Logue soups are now stocked in 950 stores and her famous, country-style range of pastries and slow cooked meals have increased from 40 stores in NSW to 240 stores across Australia.

This nationwide rollout is seeing her bring in $20 million annually for her home style pies, pastries and ready-made meals.

These include soups such as roast pumpkin and leek, lamb and vegetable and potato and leek selling for $5.25, lamb shanks and pork lion porchetta for $18, alongside slow cooked beef brisket and chicken with tarragon and cream for $12.

There’s also beef pies and chicken and leek pies for between $10 and $16 and quiches for $16. The up-market, ready-made meals, have seen sales increase by 700 per cent bringing in a total of $400,000 per week for the business.

People might be surprised to learn that she is also still in charge of replying to all customer’s emails.

What’s next

Ms Logue is still full of ideas too.

“I don’t see myself as selling beautiful food. I think I’m selling time and joy as people juggle work, going to the gym, looking fit and after their kids,” she said. “We need a fairy godmother like me to come in and take care of putting that dinner on the table.”

She’s just put forward some slow cooked veggie ideas to Woolworths for Christmas such as beetroot with yoghurt sauce and sprinkle of za’atar

The quiches now stocked in Woolworths. Picture: Supplied

There are also simmer sauces and stir fried sauces in the works for next year too, she revealed.

“You just need to pick up the massaman sauce and some lovely chicken and veggies and dinners done in 15 minutes,” she said.

The pandemic has also given her time to transform her farm in Oberon, NSW, with the old shearer’s shed currently being renovated to create a cooking school, accommodation and workspace.