ComGroup Supplies, a company owned by Hungry Jack’s owner Jack Cowin, has acquired ready-to-eat food company Mrs Crockett’s Kitchen and plans to expand the business by merging it with its existing bagged-salad business, Salad Fresh.
Mrs Crockett’s sells heat-and-eat meals, dressed salads and mixed salads under its own brand and under various private supermarket labels.
Cowin bought the business from private equity firm Ironbridge Capital for an undisclosed price. While the deal was completed in mid-May, confidentiality agreements have meant news of the acquisition has been slow to filter out from ComGroup’s headquarters in Perth.
ComGroup’s group general manager, Chris Delima, says the company plans to “invest significantly” in Mrs Crocket’s facilities in Brisbane and Melbourne, with a view to integrating Salad Fresh and Mrs Crockett’s over the next 18 months.
He says the bagged salads category is experiencing annual compound growth of 12-15% – extremely good for the food sector – and ComGroup is keen to use its new-found market dominance to develop the category.
“It’s at a relatively early stage compared to penetration in the US and the UK but it’s our view is that this market will grow, because the retailers say the number one issue is convenience and this is highly convenient product.”
Ironbridge bought a 75% stake in Mrs Crockett’s in December 2004, at the start of the private equity boom.
The business was started in 1983 by Queensland brothers John and Philip George, who established the company in a small factory on the Gold Coast. By 1995, the company had moved interstate and had a distribution facility in Sydney.
Delima confirmed the George family no longer has a role in the business.
ComGroup, which has facilities in Perth and Sydney, supplies meat and food products to customers in Australia and 25 countries around the world.
While Delima says the short shelf-life of salad products makes exporting difficult, he is keen to examine what other ready-to-eat products the company could develop.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
