Franchised Food Company (FFCo) acquired the Cold Rock chain of ice-cream stores on 4 September and appointed franchisee specialist, Michael Sherlock, to the board as executive chairman.

Sherlock headed Brumby’s Bakeries from 1999 to 2007, helping to transform the company from an ailing set of bakeries to the second largest bakery franchise in Australia.

I’ve got 30 years experience in the franchising industry. I built BrumbyÍs from six stores to 320 stores and so I want to take that experience and add to the experience that Cold Rock already has, Sherlock told Franchising.

I’m thrilled to be involved with this venture and in growing Franchised Food Company into a major franchising group, he said.

All 87 Cold Rock stores, which are based around the idea of ‘creating your own experience’ by adding different ‘mix ins’ to your favourite ice-cream flavour, will now fall under the FFCo umbrella, owned and operated by Melbourne-based businessman Stan Gordon.

It [Cold Rock] sits well alongside our existing brands, Mr Whippy and Pretzel World, which are both fun, happy places to visit and enjoy a quick treat, Gordon said. It will be business as usual for all Cold Rock franchisees and we look forward to them enjoying an exciting future as part of our expanding group.

We are delighted to have someone of the calibre of Michael Sherlock on board to share his knowledge. His experience and knowledge of food and franchising will be invaluable to the group.

The FFCo umbrella now consists of three franchises – Mr Whippy, Pretzel World and Cold Rock with a total of 115 stores. The company was created in preparation for the Cold Rock acquisition, with Gordon already owning Mr Whippy and Pretzel World and simply transferring his ownership over to FFCo one month ago.

Focussing solely on food franchising FFCo will be able to better negotiate on supplier pricing, distribution and marketing, making it more lucrative for franchisees.

Initially the plans are to consolidate and to absorb this chain [Cold Rock] and to improve and enhance it. We’re obviously set up with the idea of further acquisition but not immediately, Sherlock said.