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Introduction

It might be impish to place the origins of an intrinsically South African company on a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. But then the main character in the creation of this company, and many of the pioneers who followed in his footsteps, never lacked a mischievous sense of humour and adventure.

Historians claim that since classical antiquity there has been something special about the soil of Lemnos. Archaeologists from the University of Glas­gow in Scotland even studied the composition of “Lemnian Earth” – clay the islanders shaped into pellets, stamped with the head of Artemis, and used for medicinal purposes until post-medieval times. They concluded that scientific analysis in isolation, without taking the totality of the environment into account, would present only part of a complex story.

Lemnos is where the family of the Famous Brands founder hailed from, and where his nephews also came from when he badly needed help in expand­ing the business.

It is alluring to lend a mythical beginning to something that started small and grew to a size never imagined. But is it accurate to attribute the extraordinary commercial success of the company to something in the soil?

The individuals involved in this tale insist that, rather than mythical potions or predestiny, it took a few very simple ingredients to make their treasure grow.

This book will explore these “simple” ingredients. It will look at the people and processes that helped one man’s inspired idea take root in various outlets and forms; that helped the original company evolve into a listed entity and, after a few years of mediocre growth, mature into the achiever it has become today.

Famous Brands boasts some 2 000 outlets in more than 16 countries, it employs around 1 500 people and has created jobs for many thousands more. The listing price of R1 has reached highs of more than R95 a share which equates to a market capitalisation of more than R9 billion. Financial results such as headline earnings growth of more than 21 per cent over the past six years and the projected potential growth landed the company first prize in the Financial Mail Top Companies Awards in June 2012. Forbes.com named it one of the 10 most innovative companies in Africa in the same year, and the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies survey rated it fifth with compound growth of 38,74 per cent per year over five years.

But Famous Brands wasn’t built in a day, and the many growth spurts were tempered by setbacks. The story of the company’s trials and achievements can be told in three phases: that of the genius and vision of an independent thinker and his eldest son, who couldn’t carry the baton further; that of his nephews and youngest son who revived the embers in the wake of a family disaster; and that of a family wise enough to step back at the right time for professional management.

It is the story of George and Georgie Halamandres; of John Halamandres and brothers Peter, Fanis, Perry and Babis Halamandaris; and also that of current chief executive Kevin Hedderwick and the troops he inherited and assembled. It’s also the story of the many individual entrepreneurs and franchisees that they helped, and who in turn helped them build a food Hercules South Africa can be proud of.