KH Foods Limited
KH Foods Limited was Australia’s largest baker of cakes, savouries and bread, owning well-known brands like Balfours, BetaBake, Beaumonts Pies and Mills & Ware's.
Background
Operating in the baking industry, KH Food’s core business was the manufacture of savoury and cake products.
KH Balfours, incorporating BetaBake and Beaumonts, was the largest producer of fresh bakery goods in Australia, manufacturing a wide range of savoury and cake products for the national market. Mills & Ware’s produced long-life bars and loaf cakes, sponge cakes, Swiss rolls and Christmas cakes.
KH Foods Limited employed over 1,200 people Australia-wide with manufacturing facilities in Victoria, NSW, SA and WA.
Design • Implement • Support
Despite owning iconic food brands that Australians love, the typical problems faced by the whole sector hit KH Foods as well. The company suffered from low profit margins, the emergence of new local competitors and the loss of customers due to sourcing from overseas, as well as increasing pressure from supermarkets to cut prices.
As a consequence, KH Foods Limited asked Intrepidus Human Resource Consulting to assist with the divestment of its group businesses. Intrepidus devised a comprehensive strategy to handle this very difficult situation as tactfully as possible. The strategy included the preparation and execution of communication plans, as well as the co-ordination of media responses through a PR firm. Most importantly, Intrepidus provided support regarding the transmission or redundancy of employees.
The Result
In accordance with the wishes of the Board of KH Foods, Intrepidus assisted with a strategy to ensure that over 85% of employees retained their jobs with the new owners who purchased the subsidiary companies. This was considered a major success by all parties.
Among other important issues, Intrepidus also supported KH Foods with the development of an extensive communications plan, including both internal and external communications. While handling the difficult process of divestment, Intrepidus was determined to effectively look after both the employees’ interests and the reputation of the principal equity provider.
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