Muffin Break

Last updated

Muffin Break
Type Division
Industry Hospitality
Founded1989;34 years ago (1989) in Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia
Area served
Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom
OwnerFoodco
Website muffinbreak.com.au

Muffin Break is a franchise business of Foodco which operates small bakery cafe coffee shops throughout Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. As of 2013, Muffin Break had 275 stores worldwide: 190 in Australia, 37 in New Zealand and 46 in the United Kingdom. [1] Muffin Break is the sister company of Jamaica Blue, which is also a franchise of Foodco. [2]

Contents

History

The Muffin Break concept originated in Canada in the 1970s but was acquired by Foodco and refined for contemporary conditions. [3] The first of the new style Muffin Break stores opened in 1989 in Coolangatta, Queensland. [4]

The first Muffin Break store in New Zealand opened in Auckland in 1994. [5] Muffin Break entered the UK market in 2001. [6]

In December 2015, a partnership was made between Foodco and Croc's Playcentres, an Australian family entertainment centre franchise. The partnership saw Muffin Break cafes included in all new Croc's Playcentres and existing Croc's franchisees given the opportunity to convert their cafes to Muffin Break cafes. [7]

Labour practices

In 2014, an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman found a 24-year-old student working at two franchised Victorian stores had been underpaid almost $20,000. The store owners agreed to repay the employee and entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Ombudsman. [8] [9]

In 2016, the former owners of a franchised Hobart store were investigated by the Ombudsman and found to have underpaid two employees over $46,000 between April 2014 and December 2015. The store owners agreed to repay the employees and entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Ombudsman. [10] [11]

On 23 February 2019, Muffin Break General Manager made headlines when she spoke about young people not wanting to work unpaid internships, telling a journalist: "There’s just nobody walking in my door asking for an internship, work experience or unpaid work, nobody." These comments were later refuted by the journalist who wrote the original story as being misinterpreted “She never said she expected all of her employees to work for free, as many online seem to be suggesting, only that those who put themselves forward to do unpaid work were more likely to get a job” [12]

In September 2019, the Australian Fair Work Ombudsman found that franchisees of Jamaica Blue and Muffin Break cafés had underpaid 166 employees a total of over $26,000. [13]

In April 2023, Wage Inspectorate Victoria charged a Muffin Break franchise in Melbourne with 360 child labour offenses relating to three employees under the age of 15. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas and owned by Japanese Seven & I Holdings through Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. After Ito-Yokado, a Japanese supermarket chain and the parent company of Seven-Eleven Japan, acquired a 70% stake in the company in 1991, the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan in November, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subway (restaurant)</span> American fast food chain

Subway IP LLC, doing business as Subway, is an American multinational fast food restaurant franchise that specializes in submarine sandwiches (subs), wraps, salads and drinks. Subway was founded by Fred DeLuca and financed by Peter Buck in 1965 as Pete's Super Submarines in Bridgeport, Connecticut. After several name changes in the beginning years, it was finally renamed Subway in 1972, and a franchise operation began in 1974 with a second restaurant in Wallingford, Connecticut. Since then it has expanded to become a global franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starbucks</span> American multinational coffeehouse chain

Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Hortons</span> Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain

Tim Hortons Inc., commonly nicknamed Tim's or Timmie's, is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain. Based in Toronto, Tim Hortons serves coffee, donuts, sandwiches, and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service restaurant chain, with 5,352 restaurants in 15 countries, as of June 30, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blockbuster (retailer)</span> American video rental company

Blockbuster Video is an American video rental store chain. It was founded by David Cook in 1985 as a stand-alone mom-and-pop home video rental shop, but later grew into a national store chain featuring video game rentals, DVD-by-mail, streaming, video on demand, and cinema theater. The company expanded internationally throughout the 1990s. At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster consisted of 9,094 stores and employed approximately 84,300 people: 58,500 in the United States and 25,800 in other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woolworths Group (Australia)</span> Australian multinational retail company

Woolworths Group Limited is an Australian multinational retail and finance company, primarily known for its operation of retail chain Woolworths Supermarkets across Australia and Woolworths in New Zealand, as well department stores Big W and Masters. Headquartered in Bella Vista, Sydney, it is the largest company in Australia by revenue and number of employees, and the second-largest in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hungry Jack's</span> Australian fast food franchise

Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd. is an Australian fast food franchise of the Burger King Corporation. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Competitive Foods Australia, a privately held company owned by Jack Cowin. Hungry Jack's owns and operates or sub-licences all of the Burger King/Hungry Jack's restaurants in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinnabon</span> Chain of American baked goods stores and kiosks

Cinnabon, Inc. is an American chain of baked goods stores and kiosks, normally found in areas with high pedestrian traffic such as malls, airports and rest stops. The company's signature item is the cinnamon roll. As of December 2017, there are more than 1,200 Cinnabon bakeries operating in 48 countries. Its headquarters are in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Costa Coffee</span> British multinational coffeehouse company

Costa Limited, trading as Costa Coffee, is a British coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daiso</span> Japanese multinational variety store chain

Daiso Industries Co., Ltd. is a large franchise of 100-yen shops founded in Japan. Its headquarters are in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shipley Do-Nuts</span> American doughnut company and coffeehouse chain

Shipley Do-Nuts is an American doughnut company and coffeehouse chain with more than 300 franchised stores in the Southern United States, including Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and as of 2018, Colorado. Its headquarters are located in Northside, Houston, Texas.

mmmuffins Canadian restaurant chain

Marvellous Mmmuffins, also known as mmmuffins, was a Canadian restaurant chain that sold coffee and muffins. It was established in 1979 and granted its first franchise in 1980.

Domino's Pizza Group plc is a United Kingdom-based master franchise of international fast food pizza delivery chain Domino's. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Calombaris</span> Australian chef and restaurateur

George Dimitrios Calombaris is an Australian chef and restaurateur. Calombaris was one of the judges of the Network 10 series MasterChef Australia from 2009 to 2019. Prior to his role on MasterChef Australia, Calombaris appeared regularly on the daytime Network Ten cooking show Ready Steady Cook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Coffee Club</span> Australian café chain

The Coffee Club is an Australian multinational coffeehouse-style café chain. Originally created in 1989 as a place to get "an excellent coffee", the concept includes cafébar/restaurant stores with expanded menus and full table service. In 2005, The Coffee Club franchise was brought to New Zealand by Brad Jacobs and Andy Lucas opening their first store in Wellington. As of 2021, they have over 65 stores all around New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wage theft</span> Denial of wages or employee benefits rightfully owed to an employee

Wage theft is the failing to pay wages or provide employee benefits owed to an employee by contract or law. It can be conducted by employers in various ways, among them failing to pay overtime; violating minimum-wage laws; the misclassification of employees as independent contractors; illegal deductions in pay; forcing employees to work "off the clock", not paying annual leave or holiday entitlements, or simply not paying an employee at all.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatime</span> Taiwanese global franchise teahouse chain based in Taiwan

Chatime is a Taiwanese global franchise teahouse chain based in Zhubei. Chatime is the largest teahouse franchise in the world. Its expansion and growth model is through franchising. It operates 2500+ outlets in 38 countries. In 2006, it opened its first store outside of Taiwan in California, United States and it has since expanded to China, Malaysia, Canada, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Maldives, India, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Mongolia, Lebanon, Mauritius and South Korea, Switzerland among others now.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaica Blue</span> International coffeehouse chain

Jamaica Blue is a franchise business of Foodco which operates small coffee shops throughout Australia, New Zealand, UK, China, Malaysia, Singapore and United Arab Emirates. The company mainly operates businesses in residential areas, malls, airports, hospitals and high streets. In 2012, the first Jamaica Blue cafe opened in Singapore, in that same year the cafe celebrated its 20th anniversary. Jamaica Blue has around 134 cafés internationally in 7 different countries. It has opened its 100th store in Australia on 16 October 2014, with the 100th café opened in the new development of Westfield Miranda. Jamaica Blue is the sister company of Muffin Break, which is also a franchise of Foodco

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Retail and Fast Food Workers Union</span>

The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) is an Australian trade union for workers in the retail and fast food industries.

Retailing in New Zealand is an important sector in the economy of New Zealand, as a channel for a large proportion of household spending and international visitor spending.

References

  1. ↑ "About Us". muffinbreak.com.au. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  2. ↑ Matt Ireland : Simon Murton : Bryt. "Muffin Break: Muffin Break UK". muffinbreak.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "Our Story". Muffin Break, UK. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  4. ↑ "Foodco Group Announces Acquisition" (Press release). infonews.co.nz. 10 April 2010. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  5. ↑ Shaw, Aimee (6 April 2018). "Cafes, food retailers trade better next to fashion powerhouses, Muffin Break boss says". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN   1170-0777. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  6. ↑ "Muffin Break continues UK expansion drive". Hospitality & Catering News. 14 August 2018. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  7. ↑ "Croc's Playcentres ties up with Muffin Break". Franchise Business. 9 December 2015. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  8. ↑ O’Byrne, Thomas (18 October 2014). "Muffin Break worker underpaid $20,000". Herald Sun. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  9. ↑ "Muffin Break stores to reimburse underpaid Chinese student $20,000". Fair Work Ombudsman. 10 October 2014. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  10. ↑ Kempton, Helen (3 November 2016). "Former muffin shop owners stiffed staff". The Mercury. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  11. ↑ "Chinese workers underpaid $46,000 at Muffin Break outlet in Hobart". Fair Work Ombudsman. 3 November 2016. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  12. ↑ "Muffin Break outrage misses the point". NewsComAu. 24 February 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "Jamaica Blue and Muffin Break employees back-paid". Fair Work Ombudsman. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  14. ↑ "Muffin Break franchise hit with 360 child labour charges". The Guardian . Australian Associated Press. 26 April 2023. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.