EXCLUSIVEMaggie Beer's difficult year takes another turn for the worse
Maggie Beers very difficult year, with personal health struggles and continuing grief over her daughters death, has taken another turn for the worse with her company recording a $28.
Maggie Beers very difficult year, with personal health struggles and continuing grief over her daughters death, has taken another turn for the worse with her company recording a $28.2million loss.
In August, Ms Beer was rushed to hospital after a fall in her Barossa Valley home left her with fractures and bruising.
At the time, a family member posted online that Col, her husband, was there and she is now in the excellent hands of her doctors who are confident she will make a full recovery. It may just take a little while.
Earlier this month, the celebrity chef, 79, posted a video to Instagram revealing she was making a slow recovery and hoped to be back to normal soon.
Ms Beer is also grieving the death of Saskia, the eldest of her two daughters, who unexpectedly died in her sleep in February 2020 at just 46 years of age.
Nothing helps you through the rawness. Nothing, she said last year. No one wants to experience this.
The help is to understand that you never get through grief, but it comes alongside you and you continue on with life, and eventually you find joy again.
Maggie Beer Holdings, the gourmet food company for which she is a director, lost its chief executive Kinda Grange and chief financial officer Craig Louttit in recent months.
Maggie Beer (pictured) has had a very difficult year, with personal health struggles and continuing grief over her daughters death
The celebrity chef (pictured) posted a video to Instagram last week revealing she was making a slow recovery and hoped to be back to normal soon
And now it has announced a massive $28.2million annual loss.
The company said it would write down the value of Paris Creek, its milk and yoghurt business, by $4.6million and was considering selling it along with Hampers & Gifts, the online operation it paid $40million for in 2021.
The massive loss came despite a 0.8 per cent rise in sales revenue to $89.3million in the 12 months to June 30.
The sales increase was even higher for its Maggie Beer range of ice-cream, cheese, cooking stock and pate, which were up by 6.3 per cent.
The financial loss came from writedowns in the value of Hampers&Gifts, Paris Creek, and legal costs.
The companys shares have taken a huge hit in the past two-and-a-half years, falling from from 58¢ in February 2022 to just 6.4¢ at the end of last week.
This has seen the overall value of the company plummeting almost 90 per cent from $200m to $23m in that time.
Graeme Hughes of Brisbanes Griffith University said that the losses have come despite Maggie Beer Holdings having a strong brand reputation and a loyal customer base.
Potential reasons for these struggles include over-diversification, high costs, operating in a niche market and increasing competition from both established brands and new entrants in the gourmet food market, Mr Hughes told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.
He said the companys expansion into new areas such as lifestyle and gardening products may have diluted its focus on its core gourmet food offerings.
Additionally, the premium pricing of Maggie Beer products during the cost-of-living squeeze could be limiting the companys market reach and making it vulnerable in the economic downturn.
Mr Hughes said though Australias gourmet food market is growing, it remains a niche segment, which can make the companys revenue stream susceptible to fluctuations.
A family member assured Maggie Beers (pictured) legion of followers that she is in the best medical hands possible and will likely make a full recovery
The companys chairwoman Sue Thomas acknowledged the results were disappointing.
Maggie Beer Holdings has an absolute focus on returning the business to profitability and capitalising on our two greatest assets, she said, referring to its iconic Australian brand and Hampers & Gifts.
Despite the huge value placed on it by the company, Hampers & Gifts goodwill value - the value of a business reputation, branding and customer loyalty - was cut by $13.7m in the accounts released on Friday.
The company settled a legal dispute this year with the former owners over earn-out payments, the Australian Financial Review reported.
It has previously tired to sell its Paris Creek Farms premium milk and dairy products business, but has not been able to get a high enough bid.
Maggie Beer (left) is pictured with her daughter Saskia, who died suddenly in her sleep aged 46 in February 2020
Maggie Beer (pictured) has provided her fans with a health update, almost two months after she was rushed to hospital after a horror fall at her Barossa Valley home
An family member took to Instagram to update fans on the 79-yer-old chefs progress after her fall
Ms Grange, who was chief executive for 17 months before resigning on August 13, maintained that Paris Creek Farms could become a much stronger performer in time.
Under her leadership, Maggie Beer Holdings was aiming to broaden the business into lifestyle, entertaining and gardening products.
Two weeks after she quit two months ago, the company also announced that Mr Louttit had also left as chief financial officer.
Ms Beer was paid $157,104 for being the companys brand ambassador for the 12 months to June 30.
The business she started in 1979 with a shop beside her Pheasant Farm restaurant in South Australias Barossa Valley was sold to the Longtable Group in two deals in 2016 and 2019.
In July 2020, the Longtable Group changed its name to Maggie Beer Holdings to better reflect the principal brand of the company, it said at the time.
For now, though, Ms Beer is more focussed on recovering her health.
The support Ive had from the whole community, Australia wide, and from friends and family, Ive just been so thankful and overwhelmed, she said on her Instagram video last week.
Ive come such a long way, but I did underestimate the severity of the injuries so even though I want to tell you how good Im feeling now, I still have a way to go.
