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 Arnott's Distribution Centre in Huntingwood, Sydney | |
| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Biscuits Snack food |
| Founded | 1865 |
| Headquarters | North Strathfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | |
| Revenue | A$1.04 billion (2018) |
| Parent | KKR |
| Website | arnotts |
Arnott's Group is an Australian producer of biscuits and snack food. [1] Founded in 1865 by William Arnott, they are the largest producer of biscuits in Australia and a subsidiary of KKR. [2]
In 1847, Scottish immigrant William Arnott opened a bakery in Morpeth, New South Wales. [3] [ circular reporting? ] Later in 1865 he moved to a bakery on Hunter Street, Newcastle, providing bread, pies and biscuits for the townspeople and the ships docking at the local port. [4] Until 1975 the company was under family control with the descendants of William Arnott, including Halse Rogers Arnott and Geoffrey H. Arnott, acting as Chairman.[ citation needed ]
Arnott's, in common with the majority of Australian biscuit manufacturers, operated primarily in its home state, New South Wales, but has manufacturing plants in Virginia, Queensland (manufactures only plain, cream and savoury biscuits) and Shepparton, Victoria.[ citation needed ] In 1949 it merged with Morrows Pty Ltd, a Brisbane biscuit manufacturer, forming William Arnotts, Morrow Pty Ltd. [5] In the 1960s, a series of amalgamations and acquisitions in the Australian market resulted in the creation of the Australian Biscuit Company Pty Ltd. [6] This included Arnotts and other companies such as Brockhoff Biscuits, [7] Arnott-Motteram [8] and Menz [9] in South Australia, Guest's Biscuits [10] in Victoria, and Mills and Ware in Western Australia. [11] The Australian Biscuit Company was later renamed Arnott's Biscuits Pty Ltd.
In 1997, Arnott's Biscuits was subject to an extortion bid by Queenslander Joy Ellen Thomas, aged 72 years, [12] who allegedly threatened to poison packets of Arnott's Monte Carlo biscuits in South Australia and Victoria. The company conducted a massive recall and publicity campaign, publishing the extortionist's threats and demands in full-page newspaper ads. [13] However, Ms. Thomas was not charged with any offence as the prosecution dropped the case against her because of conflicting evidence. [13] The recall cost the company A$22 million, but Arnott's was praised for its openness and honesty in dealing with the crisis. [14]
In 1997, the Campbell Soup Company of North America, a shareholder of Arnott's since the 1980s, acquired Arnott's in full. Thus, in 1997, Arnott's Biscuits Ltd became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Campbell Soup Company. [15] This caused a significant amount of controversy in Australia, based on the desire for such an Australian icon to remain in Australian hands, and a fear that Campbell's would Americanise the products. [16]
Manufacturing of Arnott's biscuits, however, remained in Australia, and as part of a long-term expansion plan, Arnott's closed its Melbourne factory in September 2002. [17] At the same time, it expanded its facilities in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. [18]
In 2002, Arnott's acquired Snack Foods Limited. [19] In April 2008, Campbell Arnott's sold Arnott's Snackfoods to The Real McCoy Snackfood Co. and the company became known as Snack Brands Australia. [20]
In July 2019, Campbell Soup Company agreed to sell Arnott's to KKR for $US2.2 billion. [21] [22] Just weeks after the sale, Arnott's was in a public dispute with Woolworths Supermarkets, which reportedly wanted to charge higher prices for marketing displays. Sources said the dispute had begun in May before agreement was reached for the sale of Arnott's to KKR. [23] In August 2020, the company was renamed Arnott's Group. [24]
In December 2020, Arnott's announced it would acquire the cereal and snack company Freedom Foods Group for A$20 million. [25] In February 2021, Arnott's acquired a 75 per cent stake in Diver Foods. Arnott's established the Good Food Partners division to manage operations from the two acquisitions. [26] In May 2021, Arnott's acquired the New Zealand cracker company 180degrees. [27]
In June 2023, Arnott's opened a new factory in Avondale, New Zealand. It marked the company's return to manufacturing in the country after a 25-year absence. [28] In August 2023, Arnott's opened a 43,000sqm automated distribution centre at its Huntingwood site. [29]
The original Arnott's logo depicted a multi-coloured parrot sitting atop a T-shaped perch, eating a cracker biscuit. During a radio interview on ABC, William Arnott's great-great-great-grandson stated that the logo represents the proverb "Honesty is the best policy" where the phrase was constructed from "On his T, is the best pol' (polly) I see". [30]
Arnott's are well known in Australia and internationally for producing several quintessentially Australian biscuits. Some of their major products include:
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