Arnott's Biscuits


Arnott's Biscuits Limited is Australia's largest producer of biscuits and the second-largest supplier of snack food. American private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts bought Arnott's from the Campbell Soup Company in 2019.

History

In 1847, Scottish immigrant William Arnott opened a bakery in Morpeth. Later in 1865 he moved to a bakery on Hunter Street, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, providing biscuits and pies to townspeople and ships docking at the local port. 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. Nephew Aaron Arnott chose not to be involved in the family business and lives in Los Angeles, California in the United States of America.
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 and Shepparton, Victoria. In the 1960s, a series of amalgamations and acquisitions in the Australian market resulted in the creation of the Australian Biscuit Company Pty Ltd. This included Arnotts and other companies such as Brockhoff Biscuits, Arnott-Motteram and Menz in South Australia, and Guest's Biscuits in Victoria, Mills and Ware Ltd in Western Australia and Morrow LTD in Queensland. The Australian Biscuit Company was later renamed Arnott's Biscuits Pty Ltd. Regional varieties were maintained after these mergers, such as Menz Yo-Yo, Brockhoff Salada and Guest's Teddy Bears.
In 1997, Arnott's Biscuits was subject to an extortion bid by Queenslander Joy Ellen Thomas, aged 72 years, 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. However, Ms. Thomas was not charged with any offence as the prosecution dropped the case against her because of conflicting evidence. The recall cost the company A$22 million, but Arnott's was praised for its openness and honesty in dealing with the crisis.
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. 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.
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. At the same time, it expanded its facilities in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane.
In 2002, Arnott's acquired Snack Foods Limited. In April 2008, Campbell Arnott's sold Arnott's Snackfoods to The Real McCoy Snackfood Co. and the company is now known as Snack Brands Australia.
In July 2019, Campbell Soup Company agreed to sell Arnott's to KKR for $US2.2 billion. 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.

Products

Arnott's are well known in Australia and internationally for producing several quintessentially Australian biscuits. Some of their major products include: