Dessert brand Sara Lee to stay afloat after sweet deal
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Sara Lee nearly crumbled in 2023 after facing high operating costs and supply chain issues.
PHOTO: COLD STORAGE
Dessert brand Sara Lee, best known for making frozen cheesecakes, pies and ice cream for 52 years, has been rescued out of administration, the Australian media reported on Jan 29.
The manufacturer was sold to former race car driver Klark Quinn and his partner Brooke Quinn for an undisclosed sum, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
In October 2023, Sara Lee went into voluntary administration after it faced high operating costs and supply chain issues. Business consulting firm FTI Consulting was appointed by Sara Lee to keep operations running by selling or restructuring the business.
The business sale ensures that the brand’s 200-strong workforce at its manufacturing facility in New South Wales (NSW) will keep their jobs, said administrator Vaughan Strawbridge, as reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“Staff and consumers have rallied behind the business during this tough time, and we are so grateful to the loyal workforce and management team who have made this process a success while they have continued to produce amazing products,” Mr Strawbridge said.
The sale is slated for completion in the coming weeks.
The Quinns said it was their tradition to have Sara Lee apple pie and vanilla ice cream every Sunday night. “We could not be more proud to put the Aussie made and owned stamp on the Sara Lee brand,” they said.
Established in 1971 in NSW, Sara Lee also trades in New Zealand, the Middle East and South-east Asia.
This is not the first time the Quinn family has helped confectioneries stay afloat.
In 2012, Queensland-based tycoon Tony Quinn, who is Mr Klark Quinn’s father, saved chocolate brand Darrell Lea when it went into voluntary administration, according to the Daily Mail.
He bought the brand for A$11 million (S$9.7 million) and sold it at A$200 million in 2018.
