Food certification discussion

I don’t believe Gloria Jeans was ever owned by Hillsong the organisation. The story that it was has been around for a long time and my understanding is it has been debunked each time it has come up. It was however owned by two people prominent in the Hillsong congregation, Nabi Saleh and Peter Irvine - and I’d imagine lots of business owners go to church - how much of their personal profits they donate is arguably their business, and whether we choose to drink Gloria Jeans is our choice. Personally, I prefer to drink coffee :wink: In 2014, Saleh and Irvine sold Gloria Jeans to Retail Food Group, who own a myriad of brands like Donut King and Brumbies et al. Until recently, Retail Food Group (ASX listed) was run by Tony Alford (also the biggest single shareholder), who prior to that was Michael Hutchence of INXS accountant. Hutchence was technically broke when he died but there are those (including apparently a Queensland Supreme Court Judge) who have suggested Alford knows what really happened to the fortune Hutchence left spread around the world in various tax havens.

To single out religious organisations for full disclosure seems like a slippery slope to me. What about other organisations - political, environmental, aid, etc. Then there’s crossover - some religious organisations might claim to be aid organisations, and of the seemingly altruistic class of organisations, who’s to say they are what they say they are. I’d rather my money go to a religious organisation than a front company laundering money for organised crime for example … but I bet I’ve done both without knowing …

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