Wendy's Milk Bar, formerly known as Wendy's Supa Sundaes, is an Australian
ice cream parlour
Ice cream parlors (American English) or ice cream parlours (British English) are places that sell ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and/or frozen yogurt to consumers. Ice cream is typically sold as regular ice cream (also called hard-packed or hard se ...
franchise chain consisting of over 200 stores and kiosks. It is owned by parent company Supatreats Australia, headquartered in
Baulkham Hills, New South Wales
Baulkham Hills is a suburb in the Hills District of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 30 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district within the local government area of The Hills Shire. Baulk ...
.
History
The Wendy's franchise network of
ice cream
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
retail stores was founded in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
on 31 July 1979 by Bruce Koehne, John Hill, Geoff Davis and Phil Rogers. Wendy's has grown from a single store to a large franchise network of over 200 ice-cream stores spread across
Australia and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. In 2014, the
Singaporean
Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, Ind ...
company Global Food Retail Group acquired the master franchise rights for the chain.
In late 2018, multiple Wendy's Supa Sundaes in New Zealand cancelled their franchise agreements and renamed themselves to Shake Shed & Co. This was over a disagreement about ice cream suppliers, with the Australian Wendy's corporate office preferring an Australian supplier, and the New Zealand-based locations preferring New Zealand-based suppliers.
In 2018, the
High Court of New Zealand
The High Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti Matua o Aotearoa) is the superior court of New Zealand. It has general jurisdiction and responsibility, under the Senior Courts Act 2016, as well as the High Court Rules 2016, for the administration ...
ruled that the Shake Shed & Co. stores must shut down. The company went into receivership in 2020.
Meanwhile, Wendy's Supa Sundaes rebranded to "Wendy's Milk Bar", repositioning the brand as a
milk bar
In Australia, a milk bar is a suburban local general store. Similar, but not identical, establishments include tuck shops, delicatessens or "delis", and corner shops or corner stores. Milk bars are traditionally a place where people buy new ...
chain. During the
COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...
, Wendy's restaurants switched to
take-away
A take-out or takeout (U.S., Canada, and the Philippines); carry-out or to-go (Scotland and some dialects in the U.S. and Canada); takeaway (England, Wales, Australia, Lebanon, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally in Nort ...
service.
References
Further reading
* - Relevant content located at the "B. Some Relevant Cases" section
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External links
Wendy's Milk Bar
Ice cream parlors
Companies based in Adelaide
Restaurants established in 1979
Dairy products companies of Australia
Restaurant chains in Australia
Ice cream brands
1979 establishments in Australia
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