Cooks Foods widens 1H loss, as it buys Canadian franchise, chases ME, China sales

Cooks Foods widens 1H loss, as it buys Canadian franchise, chases ME, China sales
By Suze Metherell Dec. 15 (BusinessDesk) - Cooks Global Foods widened its first-half loss after buying the Canadian franchise rights to Esquires Coffee Houses, completing its ownership of the brand outside New Zealand and Australia, and spending more to expand its global footprint. The loss widened to $1.2 million in the six months ended Sept. 30, from a loss of $831,000 a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Operating income was $4.3 million, from zero a year earlier, before it embarked on it franchise buying str...