Australia’s largest specialty meat retailer, Lenard’s, has injected more than $1 billion into the Australian poultry market since it was established in 1987 and is widely regarded for leading the growth of added-value retailing - it is now poised for exponential growth.

The Brisbane-based retailer has released its half-yearly franchise profitability statements, reporting the average annual operating profit of a Lenard's franchise rose 16 per cent in the six months ended 31 December 2008. Average store sales increased to just short of $1 million, which is a 4 per cent increase over 2007.

Lenard’s CEO Bruce Myers said these results are an excellent achievement for its franchise owners, particularly considering the current economic climate.

“We believe our franchise support program is second-to-none and we are committed to working with franchise owners to ensure their businesses grow over the next year and beyond,” Mr Myers said.

“Based on these results, Lenard's is on track to achieve its growth targets for 2009."

In 2008, Lenard’s began implementing a multi-faceted growth strategy aimed at capitalising on the increasing demand for premium quality fresh food with the convenience of home preparation.

The first phase was marked by the return of the remaining Master Franchise licenses for the South Australia, Northern Territory and Victoria regions. This followed the return of the Western Australia Master Franchise license earlier in 2008 and enabled Lenard’s to place a greater emphasis on the growth of the traditional stand-alone store base through existing and new Franchise Owners.

The second stage of the strategic plan was the announcement that Blue Sky Private Equity has shown its support for the strength of the Lenard’s business model by buying a stake in Lenard’s Group Holdings Pty Ltd to help fuel its expansion plans.

Lenard’s plans for further growth include the recent implementation of its butcher in-store concept, with the first opening in Kingaroy in November 2008, and have begun rolling out its unique store-in-store concept through the IGA Fresh network following a formalised alliance with grocery and liquor wholesaler, Metcash Limited.

“This is a very exciting time at Lenard’s,” said Lenard’s founder and director, Lenard Poulter.

“Bringing back the last of the Master Franchise territories and the continued development of our retailing concepts are all projects designed to strengthen the business and provide future growth opportunities for all stakeholders, especially our existing Franchise Owners,” he said.

“Furthermore, these concepts will complement our key growth strategy of recruiting new Franchise Owners and identifying opportunities for new stand alone stores.”

 -ENDS-