Iconic Australian dessert maker Sara Lee ‘needs to be saved’, fans urge as firm goes bust

The cash-strapped sweetmaker, founded in New South Wales state’s Lisarow in 1971, was a staple in many kitchens in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.

On Wednesday, administrators from FTI Consulting said they were working with Sara Lee Australia’s management to continue operations while looking for a prospective buyer or to restructure the business.

“Sara Lee is an iconic brand which produces quality Australian made products from its manufacturing facility in Lisarow NSW, where it employs some 200 staff,” administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said in a statement.

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New Zealand private equity firm South Island Office bought Australia’s Sara Lee from Canada’s McCain Foods in 2021.

Some of the company’s workers told public broadcaster ABC that they are “hopeful that the business will be saved, that their jobs will be secure and they will be able to continue to produce the food that the Sara Lee brand is known for”.

Sara Lee’s fans found the news hard to swallow and pledged to do their bit to keep the firm afloat.

“Everybody go today and if everyone buys one Sara Lee product will help them out, we have to keep them going, they are a family business. We will miss them if they go,” a Facebook user said.

Wrote another: “That’s a shame, but thanks for the yummy cakes and ice cream and those extra kilos I gained.”

A social media user, who claimed to be a former employee, said Sara Lee was “a hardworking, honest and fun place to work at, and I made some great and lifelong friends there. One iconic Australian institution that needs to be saved and kept at Lisarow”.

Some blamed stubborn inflation and soaring energy prices for Sara Lee’s collapse, others said the company was in financial trouble because of bad management.

“Another victim of the economy, who can afford the luxury of dessert when you’ve got a mortgage, kids, rising fuel costs and food prices hitting the roof?” asked a fan.

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Australia’s consumer price inflation stood at an annual 6 per cent in the second quarter, and at 5.2 per cent in August.

Fans also took a trip down memory lane and accused the country’s supermarket giants of flooding the shelves with low-cost pastries, contributing to Sara Lee’s bankruptcy.

“Grew up behind the factory. The smell from the cakes just made you want to go to their shop at the factory and stock up on cheesecakes and Danish,” a user wrote on Facebook.

“They were never price competitive with the cheaper Woolworths and Coles-owned brands who forced Sara Lee out of the market,” commented another.