THE Australian-founded Big Lou’s Donuts, which specializes in producing a wide range of commercial donuts for retail, wholesale, events and corporate markets since 2008, recently sealed several deals with national wholesale distribution heavyweights, including Metcash, FoodWorks and Foodland.
The new supply contracts are poised to more than double the company’s current annual revenue of approximately US$2.5M. An estimated US$1.3M alone will come from the contract with wholesale distribution and marketing company, Metcash, while an estimated US$0.75M will be from the contracts with Australian supermarket chains, FoodWorks and Foodland.
The remaining extra revenue is to be generated through the supply of commercial donuts to retail stores in petrol service stations, such as Caltex, BP and APCO, as well as food trucks across Australia, including 40 vans in New South Wales via Munch Express and a potential 140 trucks in five states via Tasty Trucks.
The contracts were clinched following the new ownership of Big Lou’s Donuts by Smokefree Innotec (SFIO), an asset management company that now also owns the New Zealand-based Epiphany Café Franchise Group.
Both donut brands look to increase their market share in Australia. Commercial donuts produced by Big Lou’s Donuts are ideal for groceries and supermarkets while Epiphany Café’s pillow-soft donuts are more suited for the upper market that entails cafés and restaurants.
“We plan to expedite the expansion plan of Epiphany Café in Australia by utilizing Big Lou’s Donuts as the central commissary to supply all Epiphany Café outlets in Australia. This is made possible by our Smart Freeze Technology, a frozen technology that prolongs the product shelf-life up to six months while maintaining the quality of pillow-soft donuts and premium cakes. Also, Big Lou’s Donuts’ factory is able to produce more than 9,000 donuts per hour. Such productivity is sure to make our products more competitive in the market,” says Jeths Lacson, CEO and Chairman of SFIO.
Another feature that will set Big Lou’s Donuts apart is its own proprietary vegan donut formulation, which maintains a donut’s light and fluffy textures despite the lack of dairy and egg. The vegan donut will also include a vegan chocolate hazelnut spread custom made by Big Lou’s Donuts. The unique formulation took nearly 12 months to develop and the vegan donuts were recently launched on 27 September 2021 at Coles Supermarkets, an existing distributor of Big Lou’s Donuts.
Visit the official SFIO website (http://www.starfleetinnotech.com) to find out more.
(Advertising Supplement)
