Frozen out: Sara Lee calls in administrators

afr.com:

Iconic frozen baked goods and desserts brand Sara Lee has called in the administrators, hiring FTI Consulting to sell or restructure the business and keep its manufacturing presence alive in Australia.

Sara Lee is owned by New Zealand private equity firm South Island Office which bought the business in 2021 from global giant McCain Foods for an estimated $95 million. Christchurch-based South Island Office later merged it with The Original Foods Baking Co.

Only the Sara Lee brand in Australia is in voluntary administration. It is unclear what toppled the brand, which historically had a strong frozen desserts position with more than 50 per cent market share.

FTI Consulting have been appointed voluntary administrators of the local Sara Lee business. 

FTI’s Vaughan Strawbridge, Kathryn Evans and Joseph Hansell have been appointed as voluntary administrators of Sara Lee Holdings effective from October 17.

Established in Lisarow, NSW in 1971, the Australian Sara Lee business has a long history of producing desserts including frozen cheesecakes, pies, crumbles and ice cream.

The Australian-based manufacturing business trades as Sara Lee under licence from the global owner of the trademark, with rights to operate in Australia, NZ, South East Asia and the Middle East.

“Sara Lee is an iconic brand which produces quality Australian-made products from its manufacturing facility in Lisarow NSW, where it employs some 200 staff,” Mr Strawbridge said.

“We are working with Sara Lee’s management team and staff to continue operations while we secure the future of the business. We are immediately commencing a process to sell or restructure the business and continue its long history of manufacturing in Australia.

“We expect a lot of interest