Billionaire family swallows NZ menu
A company owned by Harry Hart and his billionaire father, Graeme Hart, has bought Hubbards Foods, Hansells and Gregg’s Sauces.
The businesses will be owned by Hart’s new company HFG Group, soon to be renamed Walter & Wild.
‘‘[The] bringing together of Hubbards, Hansells and Gregg’s Sauces under Walter & Wild combines some of New Zealand’s best-known food brands into a food manufacturing powerhouse,’’ Harry Hart said in a statement.
The brand portfolio would reach consumers from breakfast to dessert and the manufacturing capability and marketing would drive innovation in New Zealand and overseas, he said.
The brands in the Walter & Wild portfolio included Alfa One, Aunt Betty’s, Hansells, Vitafresh, Vitasport and Coconut Collaborative, Hubbards’ muesli and cereals, and Gregg’s table sauces.
The company has also purchased the licences to supply Gregg’s tomato, barbecue and steak sauces, and ketchup, as well as the F Whitlock & Sons Worcestershire sauce in New Zealand.
These assets were sold by Heinz Wattie’s as a Commerce Commission condition for that company’s merger with the Cerebos Gregg’s food business.
Hubbards founder Dick Hubbard said that after making 3 billion bowls of muesli and cereals over 30 years, it was time to hand over the reins to a younger generation.
He said he was pleased Hubbards remained in New Zealand ownership.
‘‘Harry and his team have the energy and enthusiasm to take Hubbards forward. I am really proud of what Diana and I have achieved,’’ Dick Hubbard said.
‘‘The company is in excellent shape with a strong management team, and the brand is a clear market leader in muesli. We had a lot of fun along the way, and I want to thank New Zealand for the opportunity to serve.’’
Walter & Wild would be a significant force in New Zealand’s fast-moving consumer goods sector, with a combined portfolio of more than 500 products, Hart said. His spokesperson was unable to say what prompted the name Walter & Wild.
Hubbard Foods was New Zealand’s largest independent breakfast cereal manufacturer and the third-largest supplier of breakfast cereals, established by Dick and Diana Hubbard in 1988.
Hansells has been in existence as a brand for 80 years and brands include Alfa One, Aunt Betty’s, Hansells, Thriftee, Vitafresh, Vitasport, The Coconut Collaborative, Teza and Weight Watchers products.