Wise Choice Fine foods is a family-owned and operated business. Established in 1989 by opening a production kitchen in Lakewood, Frankston to cater to the needs of its growing catering business. Within a year Wise Choice was engaged as the catering contractor to the Long Island Country club looking after the day-to-day requirements of the members as well as functions and events such as corporate golf days and weddings. A reputation for fine food and service was quickly established and Wise Choice built a list of quality clients within its “outside/Private” Catering business including Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, Mr. Ballieu Myer, Mr. Malcolm Fraser, THE ANZ Bank, The Department of Education.
In 1999 Wise Choice was engaged as the Contract Caterer to the Mornington Racing Club and together with the Club built a highly successful business. At this time Wise Choice moved its business to the Mornington Racing Club utilizing its kitchens to operate its business. This successful relationship led to a flood of other work throughout the Country Racing Circuit with clubs including, Cranbourne Turf Club, Cranbourne Harness Club, Moe Turf Club, Latrobe Valley Racing Club, Bendigo Jockey Club, Pakenham Racing Club, Ballarat Turf Club, Geelong Racing Club, Werribee Racing Club. Wise Choice became the leading Corporate Caterer to the Country Cups circuit and this relationship continues with many of these clubs. Wise Choice continued with its “outside/Private” Catering business but on a more selective basis and helped with the different catering requirements of various businesses throughout the years including, The Frankston Arts Centre, Eagle Ridge Golf Course, Brooklands, The Ranelagh Club.
In 2016 the long relationship with Mornington Racing Club ended and Wise Choice Purchased its current Commercial Kitchen in Satu Way Mornington. During the Pandemic Wise Choice started cutting and packaging cheese for an importer and this is continuing to this day. Continuing with the “outside/Private catering” business as well as relationships with Pakenham Racing Club, Geelong Racing Club, Ballarat Turf Club, Bendigo Jockey Club, and Eagle Ridge Golf Course. For all the catering needs, all food preparation is done in the Mornington Kitchen and transported in Refrigerated Vans to the Venues as required. All Setups and table settings at each of our venues are carried out by the venue itself. Also, at Geelong and Eagle Ridge the club supplies the Floor waitressing staff with Wise Choice only responsible for the Kitchen Staff. At Pakenham, Wise Choice is responsible for the floor waitressing staff but the Club is currently working towards providing all of the waitressing staff for events and functions. Each Venue sells its events using the menus. They keep the business updated on future bookings regularly. All menus are priced by the business and each Venue adds whatever margin it chooses. There are no commissions or fees paid by us to the venues. Each venue then sends us a copy of the menu, the final number of guests and any dietary requirements for each event at least seven days before each event. The business then invoices the venue after each event for payment within 14 to 30 days. For our “outside” private catering clients the business negotiates with the client and designs a menu and prices for each event.
This business is on the market to sell, and the Partners are willing to meet the market. There will be a generous handover period and assistance given in achieving the sales in the Racing sector.
A new lease is available for the commercial kitchen factory, located in Mornington, or the Partners may consider a freehold purchase.
