Muffin Break


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

History

The Muffin Break concept originated in Canada in the 1970s but was acquired by Foodco and refined for contemporary conditions. The first of the new style Muffin Break stores opened in 1989 in Coolangatta, Queensland.
The first Muffin Break store in New Zealand opened in Auckland in 1994. Muffin Break entered the UK market in 2001.
In February 2012, Foodco granted South Asian Food and Hospitality the master rights to the Muffin Break concept in India in February 2012. The company opened its first store in New Delhi in September 2012.
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.

Labour practices

In 2014, an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman found a 24-year-old student working at two 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.
In 2016, the former owners of a 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.
On 23 February 2019, General Manager Natalie Brennan made headlines when she complained 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." Brennan’s comments have been widely derided on social media.
In September 2019, the Australian Fair Work Ombudsman found that Foodco, the franchisor of the Jamaica Blue and Muffin Break cafés, had underpaid 166 employees a total of over $26,000.