r testing the patience of shareholders, bankers and regulators with large debt in the years before Covid. Furthermore, it has reviewed, reprioritised and restructured its brand portfolio to underpin growth and improve profitability. It has taken more than eight years for Retail Food Group and indeed other major retail franchise businesses to emerge from the damaging government inquiries. Retail Food Group started in Queensland in 1989 with a Donut King franchise system and the BB’s Coffee and Cakery chain. The company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2006 and subsequently acquired Brumby’s Bakeries for $46 million and Michel’s Patisserie for $100 million. Retail Food Group expanded further with multiple acquisitions, including Pizza Capers and Crust Gourmet Pizza, before a milestone deal that landed Gloria Jean’s Coffee for $163.5 million in 2014, followed by Cibo Espresso and Beefy’s Pies. The steady growth underpinned Retail Food Group’s status as the largest multi-brand franchisor in Australia and provided a springboard for international expansion, with local operators recruited through master franchise agreements. But the debt levels associated with that expansion began to take a toll, and disputes over franchisor support and operational costs emerged, particularly in the Michel’s Patisserie chain. Retail Food Group achieved operational scale with more than 1400 outlets, but the multi-brand portfolio created marketing and retail issues as consumer spending tightened and later slumped with the pandemic. Peter George, a turnaround specialist and experienced corporate executive and director, joined the Retail Food Group board in September 2018 and was appointed executive chairman two months later. George can be credited with saving the company from collapse, as he navigated Retail Food Group’s debt, regulatory investigations and operational problems between 2019 and 2024. With the appointment of Matthew Marshall as CEO in July 2024, George relinquished operational responsibilities while remaining as chairman. A return to the Executive Chairman role was necessary in September 2025 after Marshall departed from the company, as it continued to struggle financially. George was yet again crucial to stabilising Retail Food Group, let alone achieving sustainable growth. As a public company listed on the Stock Exchange, Retail Food Group has for the past eight years relied on George’s credibility and capability to maintain financial support and franchisee confidence. And there is the problem for Retail Food Group – what does the future look like with George? From its creation in 1989, the company believed a successful franchise system needed operational scale, and it pursued acquisitions and master franchise agreements overseas and tapped investors on the Stock Exchange to achieve that objective. But Retail Food Group remains a small-cap entity, with a market capitalisation of $62 million, while its enterprise value is reportedly $223 million, a sum that is less than the cost of its various acquisitions over nearly two decades. Public companies face higher costs and more rigorous reporting requirements, along with the vagaries of investor sentiment that private companies don’t have to contend with. Retail Food Group’s current share price is around $1, less than half the $2.20 peak it reached in August 2025 as Marshall headed to the exit. The drop in the share price has unsettled shareholders and, no doubt, financial backers and franchisees. Rob Rutter, a minor but influential shareholder of Retail Food Group, has called for urgent strategic changes and the resignation of management to “halt the destruction of shareholder wealth”. The Retail Food Group board has rejected the demands, pointing to a review it completed last year that has underpinned a forward strategy, a backflip decision to retain rather than divest Brumby’s Bakeries, and the launch of what is expected to be a 165-store chain of the American Firehouse Subs brand. The Firehouse Subs and Brumby’s Bakeries announcements have failed to enthuse investors, with the company’s share price down 50 cents from its $1.50 opening price on January 2 this year. Nor, it seems, has Retail Food Group’s strategic focus on six core brands in its 11-business portfolio. The core brands are Gloria Jean’s Coffees, with more than 1,000 locations globally; Donut King; Brumby’s Bakeries; Crust Gourmet Pizza; and Beefy’s Pies and Cibo Espresso. The new Firehouse Subs brand will no doubt also be a key growth prospect in the next three years. Retail Food Group is not a basket case by any means, with more than 1,250 outlets across 30 countries, a return to growth in store numbers, and modest revenue growth over the past three financial years. Provisions on restructuring, including the closure of the Michel’s Patisserie brand, and dispute settlements have impacted profitability, but the business has stabilised in challenging market conditions. The question for Retail Food Group at this point is whether it should remain a listed public company and whether it can generate growth and ongoing shareholder support. Alternatively, is there a potential suitor who could abandon the Stock Exchange and become a private company? A private equity firm might well be interested in Retail Food Group given its global franchise partners and international store network. A lot of the hard yards to revive what really was a troubled company have been done under George, but there is now a need for new leadership for the future. A private equity firm could provide new leadership and continue to fine-tune the current strategy, with the prospect of additional investment that could enhance organic growth and support further acquisitions. At the current share price, there might be some interested parties who see Retail Food Group as an appetising proposition. Further reading: Retail Food Group navigates challenging trading conditions, retains Brumby’s