ASX-Listed global food and beverage company, Retail Food Group Limited (ASX:RFG) this week announced the creation a new role, Head of International Development, to bolster its aggressive international growth strategy.
Darren Dench, a proven sales and marketing leader with strong credentials in the FMCG industry, has been appointed to the new role and will assume his position at RFG’s global HQ on the Gold Coast next week.
Retail Food Group CEO, Gary Alford, said Darren joins the business with extensive and relevant experience within leading international organisations such as Colgate, Mars, Ferrero, and most recently, Lavazza Coffee, where he held the role of International Markets BU Director.
“Darren is an ambitious leader with extensive experience in change management, business turnaround, growth in emerging markets, sales execution, and brand acceleration across more than 60 countries,” he said.
“He will be responsible for leading the expansion of RFG’s Brand Systems into new international territories, and we look forward to welcoming him to the team and benefitting from his insight and experience.”
RFG is a global food and beverage company, with a network of more than 2,550 outlets spanning 78 licensed international territories across 12 Brand Systems, including some of Australia’s most well-known and loved retail food brands – Donut King, Brumby’s Bakery, Michel’s Patisserie, Gloria Jean’s Coffees, Pizza Capers and Crust Gourmet Pizza.
The Company is also a roaster and supplier of high-quality coffee and affiliated products, operating four coffee roasting facilities that supply Australian and international markets through a suite of wholesale coffee brands. As well, RFG is an emerging leader in the foodservice, dairy processing and wholesale bakery sectors.
RFG’s burgeoning international operations have become a key ingredient of the Company’s success, facilitating relatively low risk expansion via recruitment of a highly engaged master franchise partner complement. Despite encouraging traction to date, global expansion of the Group’s Brand Systems remains a significant untapped opportunity which RFG is vigorously pursuing.
While RFG has its sights set on expanding its international footprint across various markets, and has multiple new territories on the radar, Gary Alford said the Company is also focusing its attention on the American market, the world’s largest.
“Right now we’re committed to growing the existing presence of Gloria Jean’s Coffees in the US, and introducing some of our other iconic retail food brands, including Donut King, Crust Gourmet Pizza, Brumby’s Bakery, Michel’s Patisserie and Pizza Capers, to American shores,” he said.
As part of this focus, the Company will be exhibiting at America’s largest franchise expo, the International Franchise Expo (IFE) held in New York City from June 15 – 17.