Australian Pie Maker Patties Buys Boscastle

Australian food giant Patties has bought Boscastle gourmet pies to complement its Four’n’Twenty brand.

Patties was bought by Pacific Equity Partners for USD230m in 2016 and holds about 50% market share for pies sold in the Australian supermarkets through its existing brands, which include Herbert Adams and Nannas.

Boscastle was sold for an undisclosed sum.

Patties chief executive Paul Hitchcock said consumers are willing to pay more for a premium, high quality, hand-crafted pie, and mainstay Four’N Twenty would have been challenged entering that space.

About 80% of Boscastle’s sales are in Victoria, so the company can further expand and build its profile interstate.

Asked by The Sydney Morning Herald when PEP might look to exit its Patties ownership, Hitchcock said it was likely seen as a three to five-year turnaround and pointed out that PEP had invested a significant amount of money in the business in the past 12 months.

“Definitely an initial public offering (IPO) is an option but I’m sure a trade sale is an option as well, when the time is right we will start looking at what those options are,” Hitchcock said. Patties Foods is an Australian food manufacturing company that produces meat pies, baked goods, frozen fruits, and pre-made desserts. Patties Foods is represented in the Australian market by the Four’N Twenty, Patties, Herbert Adams, Creative Gourmet, Nanna’s, Chefs Pride and Snowy River brands.

Patties is the largest meat pie producing company in Australia, and the world. They are the producers of several well-known meat pies, including the Patties, Snowy River pie, Herbert Adams pie, Four’N Twenty pies and now Boscastle. Patties Foods is headquartered in Bairnsdale, Victoria.