Retail Food Group spearheads charity campaign
The initiative aims to raise over $1 million to support children born with heart defects.
Up to $1 from each HeartKids Combo purchased from Donut King, Michel’s Patisserie, Brumby’s Bakeries, Brumby’s Go!, bb’s cafe and Big Dad’s Pies will be donated to HeartKids, a charity devoted to funding research and supporting children and their families affected by Childhood Heart Disease.
Variations of the HeartKids Combo are:
• Donut King: A regular coffee and heart donut
• Michel’s Patisserie: A small coffee and heart cupcake or heart lamington
• Brumby’s Bakeries: A sandwich loaf and four heart cupcakes
• Brumby’s Go!: A regular coffee and heart slice
• bb’s cafe: A small coffee and heart muffin
• Big Dad’s Pies: A pie and heart lamington
RFG CEO Tony Alford, who said he was keen to raise the awareness of Childhood Heart Disease as it affects many Australian families, explained, “HeartKids Australia requires funding to not only financially assist and provide long term support to those families whose children suffer heart defects but importantly to advance much needed research into developing long term positive outcomes for sufferers and hopefully cures.”
Child heart defects range from holes in hearts to being born with only one chamber.
“It is the number one cause of infant death in this country and accounts for twice the number of children’s lives lost to cancer,” said Alford.
RFG Chief Marketing Officer Tracey Catterall said the stores hoped to raise over $1 million for HeartKids during the next 12 months, with the August campaign the first fundraising effort.
“When RFG staff and our franchisee community understood that six children each day and more than 2,000 children a year are born with heart defects, it was overwhelmingly endorsed that we should emotionally and financially provide support,” she said.
Catterall added, “We knew the positive impact our six franchise systems and 1,100 retail stores could have in driving HeartKids awareness. We’re so committed to the HeartKids charity - this is the first time RFG has ever embarked on a full six-brand marketing campaign."
The Group is “urging Australians to think twice when they shop and buy their bread, coffees and treats” from one of the retail outlets to support the cause.
Retail Food Group, a retail food brand manager and franchisor, owns the Donut King, Michel’s Patisserie, Brumby’s Bakeries, Brumby’s Go!, Big Dad’s Pies and bb’s cafe franchise systems and has more than 1,100 stores in its network across Australia and New Zealand.
