Franchisees have been writing in to advise that Allied Brands (ABQ) management is in crisis mode as the ever-popular "Flavour of the Month" is missing FOR THE SECOND MONTH IN A ROW!The Baskin Robbins Australia website has been stripped of all mention of this standard promotional tool, while the Baskin Robbins USA (and Japan, and China, and India, and Saudi, etc) all feature the "Flavour of the Month" as the #1 promotion demanded by customers.
Franchisees in Australia also report that they have been plagued with an ice cream shortage for all the flavour range for the last few months.
Much of the huge debt shown in the Allied Brands Ltd. annual report is apparently owed to parent company Dunkin Brands and Baskin USA. It's likely that in an attempt to get repayment of these debts, the USA is now standover man and withholding shipments of this essential product to Australia.
An Allied Brands email sent to field staff (posted here) essentially tells staff to "lie" to the franchisees about the nature of the shortage. It suggests that owners be told that "shipping delays" are the cause of the shortages. Field management for this brand has seen continual turnover in staff, with some in and out of employment in weeks, due to their job requirement to lie to the franchisees. One report has said a standing response to any complaint is that "you're the only one" to have the complaint. Apparently management doesn't realise that franchisees all speak on a regular basis.
Only one field staff member remains in place, the son of Managing Director Peter Graham who was previously being groomed for a senior management position but has proven to be stupid and is ignored by most.
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