Milling & Baking News - August 3, 2004 - 9

B U S I N E S S

Smucker to sell bakery products,
food service units of Multifoods
Continued from Page 1
retail products primarily to grocery
stores and school food service accounts - to divest the unit.
"It
doesn't
return
enough
to warrant holding onto it," Mr.
Pinheiro
said,
referring to the
division's low profit margins of 1% to
2%, based on earnings before interest
and taxes.
Farha Aslam, an industry analyst
with Merrill Lynch, estimated in a
research report that Smucker could
garner $70 million to $125 million
by selling the division, which faces a

number of difficulties.
Those difficulties, Mr. Aslam wrote,
include overcapacity in the baked
foods industry, the shift of food ser-

vice customers away from flour and
baking mixes toward frozen and parbaked products and rising commodity
costs.
"We believe that customers will
continue to shift to more convenient
labor-saving products and away from
(the division's) core business," he

Oprah so impressed with sandwich
she invests in California cafe
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF. - Oprah
Winfrey has made an undisclosed investment in a San Luis Obispo cafe.
Margaux Sky, the owner of the Art
Cafe and Bakery, said she received a
check from Ms. Winfrey after the television star had tasted a chicken curry
sandwich from the restaurant.
Ms. Winfrey was overwhelmed by the
sandwich and offered to buy the cafe. "It

turns out this was the most expensive
sandwich I've ever had," she said.
Perplexed by what has unfolded, Ms.
Sky said she had been considering selling the cafe because of the long hours
and modest proﬁt. "It was just a sandwich, you know what I mean?" she said.
The coming together of Ms. Winfrey
and Ms. Sky could not fairly be characterized as serendipity. Several weeks ago, Ms.

Dawn celebrates ofﬁce relocation with
ribbon-cutting ceremony

wrote in a research report released
last week. "It would have required a
significant investment to build capacity in further-processed products that
Smucker was unlikely to make, since
the company has historically preferred acquisitions that do not require
significant capital expenditure.
"The
divestituture of I.M.C.'s food
service
business
was largely anticipated. The key (for
Smucker) will be to
accomplish this without significant
special charges and write-downs."
Smucker did not reveal a timetable
for the expected divestiture. But last
week's announcement came less than
two months after company officials
indicated in a June 17 conference call
that they might try to sell the unit. MBN

Winfrey had been visiting Tim Bennett, the
president of her Harpo Productions. When
she said she was hungry for a turkey burger, Mr. Bennett arranged to have Ms. Sky,
his sister-in-law, prepare sandwiches.
"Enjoy it, because tomorrow she's
shutting down her cafe," Mr. Bennett
told Ms. Winfrey. A day later, Mr. Bennett called Ms. Sky and told her that
if she wanted to stay in business, "the
check is in the mail." Ms. Sky and Ms.
Winfrey had not met and Ms. Winfrey
had not even visited the restaurant.
Ms. Winfrey was philosophical about
the episode. "Women try to do too much
instead of reaching out and asking for support so they can do what they do better,"
she said. "Always do your best, because
you never know who's watching." MBN

Mrs. Fields initiates
debt exchange offer

JACKSON, MICH. - Dawn Food Products, Inc. on June 30 celebrated the acquisition
of a 238,000-square-foot facility that will allow for the consolidation and expansion
of Dawn's corporate headquarters (see Milling & Baking News of July 6, Page 14). Pictured at the celebration, from left, are: Jim Phelps, supervisor, Leoni Township; Steve
Czarnecki, chief executive ofﬁcer, The Enterprise Group; Miles Jones, executive vicepresident, Dawn Foods; Carrie Barber, president, Dawn International; Ric Walton, vicechairman, The Enterprise Group; Ron Jones, c.e.o. and president, Dawn Foods; Michigan
Governor Jennifer Granholm; and Tracy Freeman, account manager, Michigan Economic
Development Corp. MBN

bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

SALT LAKE CITY - Mrs. Fields Famous
Brands, L.L.C., and Mrs. Fields Financing Co., Inc.
last week commenced an offer to exchange
$115 million of
its 11½% senior
secured notes,
due 2011, for a similar principal amount
of its outstanding notes with the same
yield and redemption date.
Likewise, Mrs. Fields commenced an offer to exchange $80.7 million of 9% senior
secured notes, due 2011, for a similar principal amount of its outstanding notes with
the same yield and redemption date.
Both exchange offers will expire at 5
p.m., E.D.T., Aug. 23. MBN
Milling & Baking News, August 3, 2004 / 9

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Milling & Baking News - August 3, 2004

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