Thursday November 5, 2015– BusinessNewsAsia.com
AUSTRALIA – Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2015, Australia’s leading healthy confectionery company, Ferndale, is seeking an equity partner to facilitate the expansion of its iconic brands, including JILA® mints and JOLS® fruit pastilles, into the booming Asian market.
Bolstered by sustained local growth and escalating exports, brothers and General Managers, Jarrod and Leigh Edward have conducted in-depth research and formulated strategy to take the Ferndale offering to Asia on a much grander scale than their historical ad hoc export activity.
Founded by Bruce Edward in 1995 in regional Victoria, Ferndale has traded powerfully over the past two decades. The company continues to operate from its original factory, undergoing numerous expansions to cope with demand, producing over 30+ million packs of confectionery annually.
Gaining universal distribution throughout Australia with approximately 5,500 points of distribution, Ferndale is a market leader in the healthy confectionery segment, going head to head with much larger global multinationals in highly competitive markets.
Encouraged by increasing orders from China, along with a growing appetite for healthier fat-free, sugar-free and natural confectionery across Asia, Leigh Edward outlined his high hopes for a deeper and broader presence in those markets.
“To date Ferndale’s growth has been managed conservatively, but export market expansion has always been a clear long term objective. With little effort on our part – our product quality has always generated international interest – Ferndale already exports to 14 countries,” said Leigh.
“Ferndale’s loved and trusted brands offer exceptional product and packaging quality produced in world class factories which, combined with a low overhead business model, deliver sustained financial performance including double digit sales growth in the year to date, with robust EBITDA margins.”
“Ferndale is one of the only companies to offer a truly healthy alternative within the confectionery space, offering sugar and fat-free products containing natural ingredients. We are meeting an increasing demand from the Asian consumer market for high-quality health products while addressing a concerning rise in health issues such as diabetes.”
A Nielsen study released in September 2014 found that products which cater to both nutrition and indulgence are in increasing demand as Asian consumers aspire to healthier diets and lifestyles. This finding was supported by MarketLine’s report on confectionery in the Asia-Pacific released in August this year.
“We are looking forward to visiting a number of Asian markets to meet with potential partners, and forging strong and enduring partnerships thereafter. We endeavour to continue our father’s legacy and, with his blessing, expand his vision for Ferndale globally,” Leigh concluded.
Appetite for Ferndale’s brands is already strong across Asia, where current export markets include Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, China and Hong Kong.
