It’s a long way to the top if you want a sausage roll, so they say – and now, an even longer way if you want to support a South Australian bakery.
In a surprising move, beloved SA bakery, Balfours decided that it’s ‘pie’ time to change hands, with the company being sold to a Western Australian competitor.
In just a few short weeks, on 1 August 2023, Aus Pie Co – the manufacturer of Mrs Mac’s – will be at the helm of San Remo’s Balfours, after 170 years on South Australian turf.
Aus Pie Co CEO, Bruce Feodoroff, hopes to continue the Balfours legacy however, with sights on expansion nationally and beyond.
“Currently the market for Balfours is about 85 per cent in South Australia and we look to take it nationally,” he said.
“We’ll look to take the Balfours brand into New Zealand as well. It’s part of our broader strategy to utilise the strength of Mrs Mac’s.”
Balfours initially set up shop way back in 1853 when Scottish immigrants James Calder and partner Margaret Balfour opened their first bakery on Rundle Street in Adelaide’s city centre.
Since, numerous Balfours cafes and bakeries spanned Adelaide, but in the early 2000s, the business faced financial difficulty, going ‘pie up’, if you will, and handed over the keys to San Remo in 2008.
A spokesperson for San Remo said, “San Remo is first and foremost a pasta company. The time has now come for us to focus on growing our significant core business globally.”
Balfours became best-known Australia-wide for their iconic Frog Cakes – a bite-sized sponge cake with cream enclosed with green or pink fondant – perhaps a bit weird, but a crowd favourite, it seems. Here’s to hoping we’ll still be able to get our hands on those sweet little frog-like desserts.