Retail News CRM

Tag: Donut King

  • Retail Food Group EBITDA Drops 31% as Network Trims 29 Stores

    Retail Food Group EBITDA Drops 31% as Network Trims 29 Stores

    Retail Food Group posted a 31.4 per cent drop in underlying EBITDA to $20.3 million for FY26 as weak consumer spending dragged down domestic sales.

    Domestic network sales across its franchise brands dropped 3.1 per cent to $489.5 million, while same-store sales slipped 0.7 per cent over the twelve-month period.

    The company, which owns Gloria Jean’s, Donut King, Crust, Brumby’s and Beefy’s, closed 35 underperforming stores and opened six new locations during the financial year. That left the group with a net reduction of 29 outlets across Australia as management trimmed non-core real estate.

    Rolling Out Firehouse Subs

    To reverse the sales slide, the franchisor is leaning into regional expansion and imported quick-service formats. It launched the US sandwich chain Firehouse Subs in Australia during the year, opening the debut site at Mt Gravatt in Queensland. The location produced the highest opening-day sales of any international Firehouse Subs restaurant to date, the company said.

    Retail Food Group plans to have four Firehouse Subs locations trading by December. Management aims to expand that footprint to 15 stores by the end of next year.

    Cost Targets and Franchise Margins

    Multi-brand franchise operators across Asia-Pacific face squeezed household discretionary budgets and rising labor costs, pushing holding groups to prune marginal mall sites in favor of higher-volume fast-food models. The group spent recent years re-engineering legacy bakery and coffee networks to stabilize store-level profitability following earlier portfolio contractions.

    Executive chairman Peter George said trading conditions remained difficult throughout FY26, with macroeconomic pressures hitting the second half. The company is now pursuing between $5 million and $7 million in cost savings in FY27, with capital focused on franchise partner economics, cash generation and the planned December store openings.

  • Donut King, Twisties collaborate on new flavour

    Donut King, Twisties collaborate on new flavour

    Donut King and Twisties have announced their collaboration to release the Twisties Donut King Cinnamon Donut, a new limited edition flavour.

    Twisties Donut King Cinnamon Donut offers rich cinnamon spice notes with a deliciously sweet undertone, inspired by the iconic Donut King hot Cinnamon Donut.

    “We couldn’t have been more excited when Twisties approached us to create a limited edition Twisties flavour. We’re always looking for innovative ways to bring new flavour experiences to sweet treat lovers and couldn’t of thought of a better combination than two iconic Australian brands coming together to create a snack that will deliver just that!”  Raquel Hine, Donut King Marketing Manager said.

    The new Twisties Donut King Cinnamon Donut will be available for RRP from $2.70 (80g) from 7 August at Donut King, Woolworth’s, Coles, IGA, Ampol, BP, Coles express (Viva) and selected independent retailers.

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  • Retail Food Group reports robust sales, plans expansion in 16 countries

    Retail Food Group reports robust sales, plans expansion in 16 countries

    Multibrand food chain franchisor Retail Food Group says sales across its domestic network have grown 16.5 percent in the first 21 weeks of this year.

    The company owns and operates Gloria Jean’s, Crust Gourmet Pizza, Donut King, Brumby’s Bakery, Cafe2U Michel’s Patisserie, Pizza Capers, and The Coffee Guy.

    In August, the business reported that its tax-paid profits increased threefold to $5.3 million in its full-year results.

    Continuing into the new financial year, same-store sales are up by 20percentt with Donut King performing exceptionally well, up by 47.6 percent.

    Customer visits to stores have grown by 20.6percentt during the quarter to date, although staffing shortages are an ongoing issue for many outlets.

    To alleviate operational pressures, the company says it has launched a baker recruitment program in partnership with the state-based TAFEs to create career opportunities.

    For the first half of this year, 32 new outlets were opened while an additional 50 stores are planned across 16 countries in the remainder of FY23 (which includes four new US-based Gloria Jean’s drive-thru outlets).

    In its international division, the company has reported that restructuring activity and improved trading conditions boosted underlying EBITDA by 35.5 per cent last financial year.

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  • RFG back to square one in asset sale process

    RFG back to square one in asset sale process

    Retail Food Group on Tuesday said sale talks with a potential buyer of its Donut King, Pizza Capers and Crust businesses have ended in disappointment, following months of negotiations.

    The deal fell through after the two parties failed to reach a formal binding agreement on terms that the board considered to be in the best interests of the company as a whole, RFG said in a statement.

    “Our Donut King and QSR brands [Pizza Capers and Crust] continue to provide solid earnings contributing to the company’s underlying profit,” Peter George, executive chairman of RFG, said.

    “The potential sale of any of these assets must be at a price not only acceptable to our board but in the best interests of our shareholders.”

    The franchisor, which operates Gloria Jean’s Coffees, Brumby’s Bakeries, Donut King, Michel’s Patisserie, Di Bella Coffee, The Coffee Guy, Café2U, Pizza Capers and Crust, had been pursuing an asset sale to help pay down its net debt of roughly $258.9 million, after restructuring costs and write-downs wiped out its declining profit in the first half of FY19.

    An RFG spokesperson said the failure to sell its Donut King and QSR brands will not impact the company’s recent agreement with NAB and Westpac to reset its financial covenants and waive a review of the business.

    The company continues to work closely with its lenders and maintains their support, the spokesperson said.

    The RFG board is investigating a range of other options to pay down its debt, including equity, other debt funding options and potential asset sales, and will update the market of any definitive option being reached.

    In response to a report that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission is “keeping an eye” on the franchisor, particularly around big announcements, the RFG board said it has not been made aware of any current investigations.

    A spokesperson for ASIC told that “ASIC supervises the market, so we monitor all share trading”.

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  • Donut King beats Muffin Break With Best Customer Satisfaction

    Donut King beats Muffin Break With Best Customer Satisfaction

    Donut King has unseated Muffin Break as the number one chain for coffee and doughnut customer satisfaction in Australia, according to a Roy Morgan survey.

    Donut King has broken through for its first monthly customer satisfaction victory for Roy Morgan’s Customer Satisfaction Annual Award for coffee/doughnut stores since July 2015 with a rating of 87 per cent in March 2018.

    Muffin Break, the customer satisfaction annual award winner for the past two years, was third on 83. 5 per cent, experiencing its biggest fall since March 2017 at 6.6 per cent.

    Michel’s Patisserie is at second place with 83.8 per cent, up from 5.9 per cent from a year ago and was the only leading coffee/doughnut store to improve customer satisfaction over the past year.

    Gloria Jeans takes fourth spot with a customer satisfaction rating of 79.9 per cent.

    Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says despite media questioning of Retail Food Group’s franchisee model in recent months, the performance of Donut King, Michel’s Patisserie and Gloria Jean’s underlines a strong commitment to customer satisfaction.

    “The business model of franchisor Retail Food Group has been under scrutiny in recent months and the company recently announced the closure of up to 200 under-performing outlets around Australia and spread across several brands,” Levine said.

    “However, today’s latest customer satisfaction ratings show leading RFG outlets Donut King, Michel’s Patisserie and Gloria Jean’s clearly satisfying their customers.

    “All three are rated in Australia’s top four coffee/doughnut stores early in 2018 and represent clear value satisfying often hard to please consumers in a competitive retail market.”

    Roy Morgan’s customer satisfaction awards tracks customer satisfaction, engagement, loyalty, advocacy and NPS across a wide range of industries and brands.

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  • RFG eyes India’s $24b franchise industry

    RFG eyes India’s $24b franchise industry

    Retail Food Group (RFG), has entered into an exclusive partnership with Franchise India, Asia’s largest integrated franchise solution company to launch its brand in India.

    Franchise India has extensive experience in pairing franchisors with qualified master franchise partners while creating a high level of interest from potential local franchisees to achieve successful international expansion for foreign brands. The organisation also runs the world’s leading franchise website.

    Andre Nell, CEO franchise of RFG, said RFG is targeting significant international growth with plans to open 130 outlets in international markets this financial year.

    “RFG’s Brand Systems are market leaders and award-winning brands in Australia, each possessing successful business models that have been proven over many years. Our goal is to replicate this success in global markets by working with motivated partners who share our vision,” said Nell.

    “RFG is looking forward to working with Franchise India and leveraging their extensive reach and intimate knowledge of franchising.”

    Franchising in India Gaurav Marya, chairman of Franchise India, said the country’s franchise industry is valued at $24 billion with year on year growth of 30 per cent.

    “India’s franchising industry continues to thrive, driven by a growing preference for internationally branded products and an emerging café culture,” said Marya.

    “The retail and food and beverage sectors have evolved over the last decade, leading to a high level of consumer interest in specialty and gourmet brands in particular. The market is expected to increase in value to around $35 billion by 2020.

    “With a rising global awareness and increasing spends on eating out among Indian consumers, the timing is opportune for RFG to enter the Indian market.”

    Under the new partnership Franchise India will use their extensive network, database and marketing systems to recruit Master Franchise Partners for RFG.

    Franchise India and RFG will be recruiting Master Franchise Partners for the Gloria Jean’s Coffees, Crust Gourmet Pizza, Donut King, Michel’s Patisserie, Brumby’s Bakery, and Pizza Capers Brand Systems.

    With the opportunity for a minimum of six licenses across India, Nell said he is confident RFG’s unique business model will be a major point of difference for potential partners.

    “RFG’s strength in brands philosophy positions us to enter the market with multiple Brand Systems, increasing our ability to effectively and efficiently provide enhanced support systems and resources to our partners in the region,” said Nell.

    “Our existing support team is currently based in India, made up of seasoned experts in franchising who, along with the experienced team at Franchise India, will be invaluable assets as we work with our prospective Master Franchise Partners to develop a successful model for their territory.”

    Behind RFG’s international expansion

    RFG’s international expansion model is based on recruiting master franchise partners who purchase a licence to develop a certain brand system in a defined territory.

    Nell said the master franchise partner model provided the company and local partners with the opportunity to forge sustainable partnerships to successfully develop RFG’s Brand Systems internationally.

    “We firmly believe our international licensees are more like our business partners. Our international model has become very collaborative and supportive as we work with partners on development schedules and growth strategies as well as marketing and training,” said Nell.

    “The benefit for partners is access to a wealth of experience in retail food franchising, proven systems and a global training and support framework, while RFG gains a partner with the strategic, operational and financial capabilities to expand each brand system within their territory.”

    Nell said RFG’s franchising expertise and strong established Brand Systems provided the company with the perfect opportunity for significant expansion into international markets.

    “Refined over 11 years and 40 global territories, RFG’s global franchising expertise and master franchise partner model provides the perfect springboard for the company’s established Australian brands to enter major new international markets.”

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