READER’S FORUM

RHODES FOODS’ CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF HOW TO RUIN A GOOD BUSINESS

YOUR article “Rhodes Foods pushes struggling Ma Baker” (Business Report, November 23, by Kabelo Khumalo) refers.

As the former owner of Ma Baker, I feel that the acquisition of Ma Baker by Rhodes Food Group has been a far greater struggle for all who worked for, and are still working for, Ma Baker.

Rhodes Food Group purchased a company that had an unblemished 30-year unbroken profit record and which made a profit of R24 million before takeover, and has somehow rapidly turned this into a business making a loss.

This was done by first paying many millions of rand to get rid of all the senior management and most of the middle management of Ma Baker, the very people responsible for the past profitability of the company.

It then closed down branches and retrenched sales and distribution staff in all the major centres and employed a third party distributor “because it was cheaper to do so”, thus denying loyal and long-time customers the high service levels that they had previously enjoyed from dedicated Ma Baker staff.

The actions of the management of Rhodes Food Group have been a recipe for disaster and a classic example of how to ruin a good business. Over 200 former staff of Ma Baker have now exited this “train wreck”.

Former Foods

director/owner of Ma Baker