Australia’s Retail Food Group acquires New Zealand’s Evolution Coffee Roasters Group

Australian retail food brand manager and franchisor, Retail Food Group Limited (RFG), announced on 28 July that it has acquired the business and intellectual property assets of the New Zealand domiciled Evolution Coffee Roasters Group. RFG is currently the franchisor and intellectual property owner of the Donut King, Michel’s Patisserie, Brumby’s Bakeries, Esquires Coffee Houses and bb’s café franchise systems. In the deal, RFG will acquire Evolution Coffee Roasters, which is an operator of a coffee roasting facility in Auckland that manufactures and distributes
approximately 170 tonnes annually of coffee products on a wholesale and contract roasting basis throughout New Zealand (including 60 tonnes presently supplied to RFG’s Esquires Coffee Houses franchise system), Asia and the Middle East. The deal will also see RFG take over Roasted Addiqtion Coffee Dealers, a merchandiser of a range of premium coffee blends and syrups to an existing customer base of approximately 150 cafés, restaurants and supermarkets throughout New Zealand. The group will also take over Evil Child Beverage Co., manufacturer of premium drinking chocolate powders and frappe blends supplying cafes, restaurants and supermarkets throughout New Zealand. “The transaction delivers upon strategic growth initiatives previously advised to the market by adding value accretive businesses well able to provide additional revenues, synergies, scale and intellectual property expansion to the Company’s retail food franchise system portfolio,” RFG CEO Tony Alford says. “Without limitation, it will provide RFG with its own manufacturing facility and coffee roasting capability in New Zealand thus complimenting the Company’s recent acquisition of the Esquires Coffee House assets and intellectual property for New Zealand and Australia.” RFG is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, and as of 28 June was trading at $2.40 a share.