Ben Furney Flour Mills Pty Ltd v Nonna’s Bakehouse Pty Ltd

1. [1]

   HER HONOUR: This case is about the sale of goods, specifically, flour. Ben Furney Flour Mills Pty Ltd is a miller in Dubbo. The miller seeks payment of unpaid invoices totalling some $800,000 from Nonna’s Bakehouse Pty Ltd and its directors and guarantors, Pasquale (Pat) Barbaro and Francesco (Frank) Sergi.

2. [2]

   In turn, the baker seeks damages of some $2.5 million for breach of contract and misleading and deceptive conduct, where the miller is said to have represented that its flour would be fit for purpose and of consistent quality. The flour was said to be neither.

3. [3]

   The issues are:

4. [4]

   In sum, I am not satisfied that the representations were made. The miller supplied the baker for seven years before ceasing supply for non-payment. The baker changed its Production Manager in the sixth year, which led to major changes in the baker’s demands of its miller. While the miller appears to have ‘bent over backwards’ to meet the baker’s requirements, the touchstone is what were the miller’s contractual obligations.

5. [5]

   Ascertaining those obligations was not entirely straightforward where, over the years, corporate entities and the terms of sale changed from time to time. The documentation was imperfect, although Mr Barbaro and Mr Sergi said they did not read it anyway.

6. [6]

   The problem which may have emerged is that the miller’s attentiveness to the baker’s requests, feedback and complaints – no doubt in order to secure ongoing custom – led, over time, to an expectation of a level of performance which strayed some distance from the terms of trade. But there was no breach where, despite two ‘rounds’ of attempts, the parties did not formulate any specifications or parameters for the flour, with which it did or did not comply.

Witnesses

1. [7]

   The miller relied on the evidence of chief executive officer Sarah Furney, quality assurance manager Raymond Chisholm and mill manager Garry Stewart. The baker relied on the evidence of Mr Barbaro and Mr Sergi, together with research and production manager Jorge Gironda, consultant miller Craig Holley, bakery manager Antonino Postorino and financial controller Alfred Kim. No adverse credits findings or Jones v Dunkel inferences were sought, nor made.

2. [8]

   As to liability, the baker relied on the expert evidence of consultant baker Jan Baert, while the miller relied on food technologist Stephen Orchard. Mr Baert and Mr Orchard broadly agreed with each other. Mr Orchard was particularly impressive and careful; I preferred his views on points of disagreement.

3. [9]

   As for quantum, the baker relied on the expert evidence of forensic accountant Adam Giliberti and the miller relied on forensic accountant Paul Russell. Whilst the forensic accountants disagreed strongly with each other, both were sound.

The baker and ‘artisan’ bread

1. [10]

   The baker produces over 100 different types of baked goods in large-scale production. The goods are manufactured in Sydney and delivered daily across Australia, including to Woolworths, Aldi and Harris Farm.

2. [11]

   Notwithstanding its large-scale production, Mr Sergi said Nonna’s Bakehouse carried on the business of an “artisan” bakery, producing handcrafted baked goods using traditional methods and natural ingredients. While part of Nonna’s Bakehouse’s process was automated to allow it to produce bread on a large commercial scale, it was otherwise described as a “very manual process” involving a precise sequence of unique steps. Mr Sergi said the baker required a specific type of flour to withstand the different stages involved in the manufacture of “artisan style” baked goods.

3. [12]

   The experts, Mr Baert and Mr Orchard, agreed as to what was meant by ‘artisan’ bread, being bread made by hand using traditional processing techniques, typically in small batches. The process involves the use of pre-fermented dough (starters or a Biga), longer fermentation times, higher water content, the absence of bread improvers and long mixing times to allow for the addition of more water.

4. [13]

   Two obvious differences appear from the agreed description of ‘artisan’ baking and the baker’s processes. First, Nonna’s Bakehouse made bread on a large-scale production, using semi-automatic processes. Second, the baker used a softener containing L-cysteine, which Mr Orchard considered unusual in an ‘artisan’ process. Notwithstanding this, the experts agreed that the baker could be considered to be making ‘artisan’ bread. The experts disagreed as to whether the baker’s process was unique; it does not matter.

5. [14]

   As to the type of flour needed by an ‘artisan’ baker, a diverse range of parameters were identified by the lay and expert witnesses. There was no universal or recognised set of parameters. To assist in what follows, the following parameters were canvassed, albeit the relevance, required levels and appropriate test method were not without controversy:

6. [15]

   That brings us to the first and, indeed, key issue: how much did the miller know about the baker’s ‘artisan’ baking process and its flour requirements when the representations were said to have been made? Put another way, what were those requirements and were those requirements communicated to the miller? This takes us to the parties’ early dealings from 2015 to 2017.

Early dealings

1. [16]

   In 2015, the baker decided to put the supply of flour and baking ingredients out to tender. This does not appear to have been a formal tender process. No tender documents were in evidence. Rather, Mr Barbaro called the miller’s salesperson, Mark Wright, and asked him to send through some “specs and prices”.

2. [17]

   Mr Wright sent through prices for various flour products, together with a Certificate of Analysis setting out the typical results for each flour product on a range of measures, including protein, moisture, ash content and water absorption. The certificate noted that, while samples were prepared to best represent the batch nominated, “due to inherent process variation [the] result reported may differ slightly on an individual bag basis”.

3. [18]

   The miller’s offer was contingent on completion and return of a credit application form. The proposed supplier was the miller’s corporate predecessor, Beltavia Pty Ltd as trustee for FP Operating Trust trading as “Ben Furney Flour Mills”. In June 2015, the baker completed the credit application form as trustee. (Nonna’s Bakehouse is the trustee of Nonna’s Bakehouse Unit Trust.) Mr Barbaro and Mr Sergi signed a Directors’ Guarantee and Indemnity Deed. The last page contained Terms of Sale (which were revised from time to time and to which I will return).

4. [19]

   The miller sent flour samples to the baker for trial. The baker provided a sample of its current flour to the miller. On 17 August 2015, Mr Wright sent Mr Barbaro a “Flour Analysis Summary Template” for the miller’s premium flour, apparently as an example of the test data collated by the miller on each batch of floor (being moisture, protein, ash, water absorption and falling number). In return, Mr Barbaro provided Mr Wright with “info for the flour testing”, which I take to be the test results that Mr Barbaro wanted to see. This included starch damage and wet gluten, together with a Farinograph and Extensograph reading.

5. [20]

   The miller’s chief executive officer, Ms Furney, prepared to meet with the baker in Sydney. Mr Wright provided Ms Furney with detailed notes in advance, advising that the baker had successfully trialled the miller’s premium flour, but:

6. [21]

   The miller’s quality assurance manager, Mr Chisholm, had tested the baker’s current flour and compared it with the miller’s range of flours. He reported to Ms Furney, “In theory [our] Premium [flour] should be the stronger which should help get better volume if worked to its optimum.” As Ms Furney put it, the miller’s premium flour was identified as “the best flour to put forward.”

7. [22]

   The parties first met on 24 August 2015. Mr Barbaro and the baker’s general manager, Bob Bentley, attended. Ms Furney and Mr Wright were accompanied by the miller’s sales manager, Brian Roberts. The miller provided testing scores for its premium flour. Mr Wright’s notes of the “sales meeting” recorded “Talked bulk flour and specs, agreed that [the miller] will send 2 pallets [of] premium [flour] for trial and … may look at a full silo trial”.

8. [23]

   What “specs” were discussed is not known. Given the emails which had passed between Mr Wright and Mr Barbaro to that point, most likely the “specs” were the test results provided by the miller for its flour, although there appears to have been discussion as to what other tests the baker wanted to be performed.

9. [24]

   After the meeting, Mr Roberts emailed Mr Barbaro and Mr Bentley, thanking them for taking the time to meet and “also for the tour of your bakery”. The baker was invited to tour the miller’s facility in Dubbo. Separately, Ms Furney emailed Mr Barbaro and Mr Bentley, thanking them for their time, adding “The tour of the factory gave us an in depth appreciation of your requirements.”

10. [25]

    A decade later, Ms Furney could not recall this visit to the baker explicitly; she said she had visited the bakery several times. Ms Furney agreed that the baker described its bread making process in general, “long ferments, four hours, knock backs and … put through the machine. So the general walkthrough gave us … the flow of the bakery. We didn’t go into specifics … around ingredients, processing parameters or anything like that. It was just a general flow of the bakery.”

11. [26]

    For his part, Mr Barbaro said that he told Ms Furney that the baker did not operate like an ordinary bakery; its processes were unique. The baker required a certain quality of flour which could withstand its baking process. The baker had a 4-hour fermentation process for standard baking products and an 18 to 26-hour fermentation process for other baking products such as a Biga and sourdough starters. During the fermentation process, the baker conducted two to three knockback processes on some products. The process was quite intensive, so the flour needed to be strong and stable enough to manage it. The most important thing was that the flour could handle a higher percentage of water and the baker’s baking process. He asked Ms Furney if she knew what the starch damage was (presumably, of the miller’s flour). Ms Furney said that she could find out that information and send him those details. (After the meeting, Ms Furney followed up a question regarding starch damage in her email, “our target is 6-9%, we are arranging some testing to give you an indication of where we are running at currently and will revert with results.”)

12. [27]

    I do not attach great weight to Mr Barbaro’s recollection of this first meeting, where he made no note and the meeting took place a decade ago. Ms Furney’s professed lack of recollection is probably more realistic. In any event, the baker decided not to change flour suppliers, as the miller would not agree to drop its price. The miller did begin to supply the baker with a customised blend of grains and seeds called “Nonna’s Grain Mix”.

13. [28]

    In 2016, the miller’s business was restructured: the plaintiff took over the conduct of the business and entered into new supply agreements with existing customers, including the baker. New Terms of Sale were accepted, to which I will return at [95]. The miller continued to supply “Nonna’s Grain Mix” as and when requested.

14. [29]

    In December 2016, the miller approached Mr Barbaro again, offering to supply flour in bulk. In February 2017, the miller sent some flour for trial, accompanied by a Certificate of Analysis. Mr Roberts advised that the flour was being supplied to a bakery on the Gold Coast each week “and if suitable for your requirements would make it very easy for us to guarantee supply for the year with consistent product”.

15. [30]

    In March 2017, Ms Furney spoke to the baker’s Technical Support Manager, Sergio Soria, about the trial. The water absorption of the miller’s flour was lower than the baker’s existing flour. A second pallet was sent, with better results. Mr Soria told Ms Furney that he was “happy to try [a] full run with this one”. Ms Furney arranged another meeting with Mr Bentley on 10 March 2017, to discuss the outcome of the trial. Two representations were said to have been made at this meeting.

First and second representation

1. [31]

   The baker contended that, by 10 March 2017, the miller knew that the baker adopted a unique mixing, proofing and baking process which, amongst other things, used a traditional artisan method but with an automated process and required a 4-hour fermenting process with high water absorption. In addition, it was said that the miller knew the specifications and technical requirements of the flour used by the baker in its manufacturing processes. The baker further contended that the miller made two representations at this meeting:

2. [32]

   According to the contemporaneous documents, in advance of the meeting on 10 March 2017, Mr Bentley advised that, in order for the baker to consider changing suppliers, the miller “would need … to be very clear in the meeting” on “Guarantee of Flour consistency & quality; Very Competitive Price”, on-time deliveries and value added benefits. The second meeting appears to have gone well, with Ms Furney thanking Mr Bentley and Mr Soria for “the wonderfully open and constructive meeting”.

3. [33]

   The first step in considering whether a person has engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct is: was the representation made. Where the representation was oral, “it is necessary that the words spoken be proved with a degree of precision sufficient to enable the court to be reasonably satisfied that they were in fact misleading in the proved circumstances. In many cases … the question whether spoken words were misleading may depend upon what, if examined at the time, may have been seen to be relatively subtle nuances flowing from the use of one word, phrase or grammatical construction rather than another, or the presence or absence of some qualifying word or phrase, or condition”: Watson v Foxman (1995) 49 NSWLR 315 at 318 (McClelland CJ in Eq).

4. [34]

   A representation may be “puffery”, as described by Gleeson J in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v We Buy Houses Pty Ltd [2017] FCA 915 at [64]-[65]: (citations omitted)

5. [35]

   It will be immediately observed that the only person who gave evidence about this meeting was Ms Furney. Mr Bentley and Mr Soria were not witnesses. Ms Furney said candidly that she had no clear memory of her dealings with the baker in the early years. Ms Furney refreshed her recollection from contemporaneous records and had regard to her usual practice. Ms Furney said she had “no idea of the intricacies” of the baker’s processes at this time but she understood, at a broader level, the steps in the process. Ms Furney did not think that she ever promised exclusivity of a blend.

6. [36]

   As at 10 March 2017, discussions appear to have been at an early stage. The miller wanted to supply bulk flour and had provided two pallets of bagged flour for trial, with mixed results. All that the miller knew about the baker’s processes was whatever had been gleaned from a tour of the factory nearly two years earlier, together with inconclusive communications in respect of “specs”.

7. [37]

   On the basis of the limited evidence of what was said at this meeting, I am satisfied that the miller represented that it could supply bulk flour to the baker. Indeed, the miller was obviously keen to do so. I accept that Ms Furney represented that the miller would work with the baker to provide a flour that met the baker’s needs. But I am not satisfied that the miller provided an assurance that it would be successful in that regard.

8. [38]

   In saying this, I have in mind that there is no evidence that the baker had specifications and requirements at the time, beyond a broad requirement that the flour could be used in its baking processes. It seems unlikely in these circumstances that Ms Furney would have represented that the miller could supply flour that would meet the baker’s “specifications and requirements” in the absence of a clear indication of what those “specifications and requirements” were. To represent that the miller could supply flour that would meet any “specifications and requirements” would have been puffery. I am not satisfied that the miller made the first representation.

9. [39]

   Although Mr Barbaro said he understood that the Nonna’s Bakehouse Bulk Flour was different to the other flours that the miller was supplying to its customers, there is no evidence that Ms Furney represented at this meeting that the flour supplied would be a unique blend. The second representation is not established either.

10. [40]

    Rather, the parties continued to investigate whether the miller’s flour would be suitable for the baker’s baking processes. On 27 March 2017, Mr Bentley asked for delivery of silo flour for trial. Ms Furney arranged delivery of 24 tonne of “Nonna’s Bulk Flour” and offered to supervise delivery, hoping to then meet Mr Sergi and spend some time with Mr Soria to understand “his requirements with regards to testing.”

11. [41]

    On 3 April 2017, Ms Furney spoke to Mr Soria as to how the first bulk load had performed. Mr Soria said he had increased water by 2% and was happy with the flour; although he “could get more”, he wanted to be realistic, “don’t want to push more water at the sacrifice of quality.” He was “happy to try full run with this one”. On 5 April 2017, Ms Furney confirmed the delivery of another 24 tonne of flour, noting “I understand that our flour performed differently to the current benchmark within the process, at the same time producing an acceptable end product. Our milling team has reviewed their process and will implement some small changes in light of your feedback.” Ms Furney also noted that, in order to establish a level of satisfaction and confidence, the baker required the supply of bulk loads over the next four to five weeks until the baker could make a decision. Ms Furney asked for a sample of the baker’s current flour for testing.

12. [42]

    On 10 April 2017, Mr Soria requested another tanker load of flour. Ms Furney provided comparative test results for the baker’s current flour, the last bulk load and a test blend called “Trial #2”. The test results indicated that the water absorption for “Trial #2” was on par with the baker’s current supplier, being 63.2% and 63.3% respectively. Ms Furney advised that a sample pallet of Trial #2 would be delivered shortly; the baker’s feedback was sought.

13. [43]

    On 18 April 2017, Ms Furney spoke to Mr Soria regarding the performance of the second load of flour, when compared with the baker’s current supplier. Mr Soria reported that the miller’s dough “looks a bit better”. Mr Soria was “happy with the end product” from the miller’s flour, although the water absorption of the baker’s current supplier was a little higher. Ms Furney said the pallet of Trial #2 flour “should close the gap on water absorption.”

14. [44]

    On 19 April 2017, Mr Chisholm provided Mr Soria with a Certificate of Analysis for the tanker delivery that day, noting that “Bake tests have not been carried out as your process description is so far from [these] methods that the results are not providing relevant information to you. … Once your process and our flour supply are fully settled, … we can discuss the future [Certificate of Analysis] to best suit your ongoing requirements.” This suggests that the miller had some understanding that the baker’s processes were different from standard commercial baking, although the baker’s process was not “fully settled”.

15. [45]

    On 21 April 2017, Ms Furney spoke to Mr Soria with respect to the sample pallet “with increased ash content”, noting that Mr Soria was able to increase water absorption by 2% and wanted to try the flour in a larger scale. Ms Furney agreed to send the flour in a bulk load and advised “we would endeavour to creep that water absorption up a little further”. Ms Furney reported to her colleagues, including noting that Mill Manager, Garry Stewart, was “working on the flour now”. Mr Chisholm was asked to organise a bake test. Ms Furney also confirmed with Mr Soria that the next load of flour, “which has been milled to increase water absorption”, would be delivered in the next few days.

16. [46]

    On 26 April 2017, Mr Chisholm provided Mr Soria with a Certificate of Analysis for the next flour delivery, noting that bake tests indicated a 2% increase in water absorption, as for the previous Trial #2 pallet. Ms Furney arranged a visit to the mill by Mr Barbaro and Mr Soria on 19 May 2017, with time set aside for the test kitchen and discussion of “Trial Feedback”. Mr Soria was apparently interested to have a good understanding of the miller’s systems and quality controls.

17. [47]

    Mr Chisholm was involved in testing the flour. He said that, after the baker trialled the miller’s standard premium flour, the baker asked for “an increase in water absorption if it was possible on the flour that we’d supplied them for trial.” Adjustments were made to increase water absorption, but no other adjustments were made in relation to protein or the like. Those changes were then “spread across the board” and applied to the miller’s premium flour.

18. [48]

    On 18 May 2017, the miller prepared a “Food Industry – Product Information Form” for the Australian Food and Grocery Council (referred to as PIFs) in respect of the supply of “Nonna’s Bakehouse Bulk Flour”, being supplier’s product code “FL-NBB”. The baker was provided with the PIF, according to a later email from the baker’s administrative assistant. Where the baker was visiting the mill the next day, it seems likely that the PIF was provided to the baker during the visit, although no-one said so.

19. [49]

    The PIF began as follows:

20. [50]

    There followed a Supplier Declaration and Warranty. The miller agreed that “all Product it supplies to the Customer will conform with the Product Information unless otherwise agreed to in writing and in advance by the Customer”: para 1.4(4). The miller also agreed to “inform the Customer in writing and in advance of any change to the Product Information … if and when the supplier becomes aware of such changes”: para 1.4(6).

21. [51]

    The PIF included chemical specifications and an accompanying test method for each parameter, being:

22. [52]

    Mr Barbaro broadly agreed with that these chemical specifications were suitable for ‘artisan’ bread, although thought the ash level should be higher (while Mr Gironda thought the ash level was good). Mr Barbaro said that it did not really matter whether the protein met the percentage minimum as “it’s more the protein quality, not the protein levels.” Mr Barbaro agreed that “typical” did not mean “guaranteed” chemical properties, but added that he probably didn’t even look at the PIF.

23. [53]

    Mr Gironda said that a PIF was used for compliance purposes and recorded the product ingredients and information as a guide. The PIF was used for the purposes of regulatory compliance checks to ensure that the product met food safety standards. Mr Gironda said that a PIF could not be used to determine the suitability of flour to manufacture a particular baking product. Mr Barbaro also said that the baker did not rely on the PIF to determine whether the flour was suitable for its baking processes; the baker needed the PIF as it was required by regulations to submit a PIF to its customers every three years.

24. [54]

    Mr Barbaro and Mr Soria visited the mill on 19 May 2017, albeit briefly. Ms Furney recalled showing Mr Barbaro and Mr Soria the mill’s new Mixolab machine, which had yet to be commissioned. Ms Furney told Mr Soria that the miller had the ability to provide a Certificate of Analysis using the Mixolab, which provided an extensive range of data. Mr Soria requested these certificates and said the baker could work on correlating this to the bakery process. Ms Furney took Mr Barbaro and Mr Soria to the farm and discussed the fact that the miller sourced its wheat from the Dubbo region, which was a particularly hard wheat region with higher protein wheats.

25. [55]

    After this third meeting, Mr Soria assured Ms Furney “we will have another opportunity to discuss a bit deeper about technical aspects next time”. Ms Furney summarised some key points in an email:

26. [56]

    According to Mr Barbaro, Mr Soria told Ms Furney that the most important thing for the baker was that they knew the specifications of the flour when it was delivered and that it was consistent and of high quality. The baker needed to be provided with a Certificate of Analysis, showing the specifications of the flour so that the baker could determine if it was suitable for their processes. The baker’s recipe should always remain the same. Ms Furney replied that the miller was looking to use Mixolab on a full-time basis and she believed it would give the baker the required information. As to consistency, the miller could provide the baker with flour milled through the year from a pool of consistent wheat sources from local growers, “This will guarantee consistency all year round. We know where to source good wheat because we buy from local growers and we know what they are growing.” Mr Barbaro also asked the miller whether it could conduct testing of the starch damage of the flour, as this was important for the baker to know.

27. [57]

    Mr Barbaro recalled that Ms Furney said that the miller would store the baker’s flour separately to everyone else so it could age. (Ms Furney agreed that she said this (and also did this). Mr Barbaro said that he raised concerns about not having sufficient data to see how the flour would perform in the baker’s process or in respect of starch damage. He again explained to Ms Furney that the baker’s processes were different and, as they used more water in their dough, which was why it was important to have proper data. Ms Furney said she was very confident that they could work together and the miller would be able to provide whatever data was needed, “I’m confident that our flour will perform to your needs, because ours is one of the best in the market.”

28. [58]

    On 22 May 2017, Mr Bentley arranged another meeting with Ms Furney, to discuss the results of flour trials to date, lab test facilities and key indicators / parameters, as well as price. Ms Furney collaborated with her colleagues as to what the baker’s objections to the miller’s products could be “and how we can handle them”. Ms Furney anticipated that the baker would be concerned that the miller’s product had 2% to 4% less water absorption than its current supplier. Ms Furney also asked the Mill Manager, “if they were to say they want more water absorption how do you suggest we could go about it, if we can?” Mr Stewart replied that he would make some changes “to see if we can get the ash and water up”.

Third representation

1. [59]

   At the fourth meeting on 29 May 2017, Ms Furney met with Mr Barbaro and Mr Sergi. A third representation was said to have been made at this meeting. The miller is said to have represented that, during the course of each year, the flour supplied by the miller would be of a consistent quality.

2. [60]

   According to the contemporaneous documents, the miller was given some “positive feedback”. After the meeting, Ms Furney emailed Mr Barbaro, noting that she was keen to work with Mr Soria and himself “in devising a testing and reporting system which will give you meaningful and reliable data which can form a prerequisite system for Nonna’s supply chain into the future.”

3. [61]

   Mr Barbaro said he “vaguely” recalled his meetings with Ms Furney in 2017. As Mr Sergi recalled it, they discussed the key parameters of flour that the baker required for its baking process, although he could not recall what those parameters were. He said to Ms Furney that whatever Mr Barbaro and Mr Soria said needed to be in the flour was what they needed. The baker did not include additives in his products but baked bread using traditional recipes “and that is how it must be”. The baker could not compromise on quality; that was not negotiable. Ms Furney said she was confident that the miller could provide the baker with the flour that it needed.

4. [62]

   Ms Furney said that her usual practice in discussing flour consistency was to inform the customer that the miller took steps to ensure that the flour supplied was of a consistent quality, however, given that flour is a natural product, there is always going to be some degree of variation in the quality of flour supplied. Ms Furney did not make any guarantee that the flour would have a fixed or unchanging quality or consistency, because that could not be achieved.

5. [63]

   Ms Furney agreed that she understood that the baker’s process needed a consistent supply of high quality flour to be effective. Ms Furney understood that consistency was an important consideration for the baker. Ms Furney added that bakery parameters also need to be adjusted to suit the flour as “leaving the bakery parameters stagnant and expecting a good result every time would not be realistic with a natural product like we’re dealing with.” Bakeries used improvers to smooth out natural variations in flour. Ms Furney understood from Mr Soria that this was done at the bakery at the time.

6. [64]

   I have deferred to the contemporaneous documents when considering whether the representation said to have been made eight years ago in 2017 was, in fact, made. The passage of time may have exacerbated the general problem that recollections given in the course of legal proceedings may be distorted, albeit innocently, by a desire to succeed. As McLelland CJ in Eq also noted in Watson v Foxman at 319:

7. [65]

   I do not accept the baker’s submissions that its witnesses’ recollections were better than Ms Furney, as the decision to change suppliers was said to be more significant for the baker. Whilst Mr Barbaro and Mr Sergi’s affidavits set out a detailed recollection, Mr Barbaro agreed in cross-examination that his recollection was “vague”. It appeared from Mr Sergi’s cross examination that he had little involvement in the day-to-day operations of the bakery; his evidence was very ‘high level’. This is not to criticise either witness but to say that their evidence of representations said to have been made so long ago is affected by the factors described in Watson v Foxman.

8. [66]

   I am satisfied that a representation of consistency was made, albeit qualified in two respects. First, Ms Furney emphasised that the miller had access to “a pool of consistent wheat sourced from select local growers”. This was emphasised in the visit to a farm in the local area. That is, the miller was not sourcing its grain from all over the country, nor from growers about which the miller had no details or business relationship.

9. [67]

   The second qualification is apparent in the pleaded representation, that is, the consistency would be “during the course of each year”. The evidence was that grain grown in one year was harvested toward the end of the calendar year and supplied as flour in the next calendar year. The grain’s properties, and the resulting flour, were affected by the weather conditions during the growing year, be it droughts or flooding rains. As Mr Gironda put it, “Every year, flour changes. … And some years are very good, some years are very bad.” The baker did not allege that the miller represented that the flour would not display seasonal variations but simply that it would be consistent “during the course of each year”.

10. [68]

    Mr Barbaro agreed that, as a natural product, there were variations in flour year to year with each wheat harvest. He agreed that it would have been a ridiculous assurance for the miller to say that they could give the baker flour irrespective of the weather. However, while Mr Barbaro accepted that widespread rain across a growing area could be expected to lead to weaker protein content in the flour, “but I’d expect the flour company to in source other wheat to provide what I need.” His professed expectation is at odds with Ms Furney’s emphasis that the consistency arose from obtaining grain from local farmers in the Dubbo area.

11. [69]

    In sum, I find that the miller represented that, during the course of each year, the flour supplied by the miller would be of a consistent quality, subject to the two qualifications I have described.

Misleading and deceptive conduct?

1. [70]

   The representation which I am satisfied was made at the meeting on 29 May 2017 is not identical to the third pleaded representation. For completeness, I will consider whether the representation that was made contravened the Australian Consumer Law.

2. [71]

   A representation is false, misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive, if the representation induces or is capable of inducing error: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v TPG Internet Pty Ltd (2013) 250 CLR 640; [2013] HCA 54 at [39]; Parkdale Custom Built Furniture Pty Ltd v Puxu Pty Ltd (1982) 149 CLR 191 at 198; [1982] HCA 44. Whether a representation meets this description is a “quintessential question of fact”: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Telstra Corporation Ltd (2007) 244 ALR 470; [2007] FCA 1904 at [14]-[15] per Gordon J; Forrest v Australian Securities and Investments Commission (2012) 247 CLR 486; [2012] HCA 39 at [69] per French CJ, Gummow, Hayne and Kiefel JJ.

3. [72]

   In considering the question, “It is necessary to view the conduct as a whole and in its proper context”: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Coles Supermarkets (2014) 317 ALR 73; [2014] FCA 634 at [41] per Allsop CJ; Butcher v Lachlan Elder Realty Pty Ltd (2004) 218 CLR 592; [2004] HCA 60 at [109] (McHugh J). More recently in Self Care IP Holdings Pty Ltd v Allergan Australia Pty Ltd (2023) 277 CLR 186; [2023] HCA 8, the Court observed at [82]:

4. [73]

   The relevant time for testing whether conduct was misleading or deceptive is the date of the making of the representation and not with the benefit of hindsight: Agnish Pty Ltd v Folio Invest Pty Ltd (No 4) [2020] FCA 120 at [99].

5. [74]

   The representation was that, during the course of each year, the flour supplied would be of a consistent quality, being sourced from an identified local region but subject to seasonal variations. The representation was as to a future matter. Such a representation will be taken to be misleading if the person did not have reasonable grounds for making it: s 4, Australian Consumer Law.

6. [75]

   So far as the evidence reveals, the miller did source its grain from local growers, with whom it had established business relationships. The fact that the grains came from a specific local region would tend to indicate that the grain would have similar characteristics, being exposed to the same weather (at least).

7. [76]

   Ms Furney said that the miller tested its flour every 30 minutes to ensure that the flour fell within internal limits, being moisture, protein, water absorption and ash content. The people supervising operations at the mill appear to have been able. Mr Stewart and Mr Chisholm were impressive and knowledgeable witnesses.

8. [77]

   I am satisfied that the miller had reasonable grounds to represent that, during the course of each year, the flour supplied would be of a consistent quality subject to seasonal variations. The miller had a reliable supply of grain from local growers, a competent miller to grind the grain into flour and a careful quality assurance manager to monitor proceedings. I do not consider that the representation as made, being as to a future matter, was made without reasonable grounds, was misleading and deceptive, or likely to lead the baker into error.

9. [78]

   If I am wrong about all of this, then I note that the baker is said to have relied on the three representations when deciding to enter into the Letter of Agreement. Assuming that to be the case, then the baker does not seek to extract itself from the Letter of Agreement. Rather, the baker complains that, four years later, the miller’s performance of its contractual obligations did not conform with those representations.

10. [79]

    Mr Barbaro agreed that, when ordering the fateful flour from the miller in 2021 and 2022, he was not thinking about what Ms Furney had said during their meetings in 2017. That is, even if the representations were made, they were not relied upon when ordering the flour that was said to result in loss and damage. (I note that the baker did separately plead that the representations became implied terms in its contract with the miller, which I will consider shortly). In sum, even if the representations were made, were misleading, and were relied on when entering into the Letter of Agreement, the compensation sought under s 236 of the Australian Consumer Law is unrelated to the contravening conduct. As such, it is not necessary to consider the Australian Consumer Law claim further. It remains to consider the contractual claim, to which this judgment now turns.

Letter of Agreement

1. [80]

   The miller continued to work with Mr Soria to see whether the miller’s flour would work in the baker’s baking processes. The focus appears to have been on whether the flour would absorb the required amount of water.

2. [81]

   On 30 May 2017, the miller delivered another bulk load to the baker. Mr Soria advised that it had decreased water absorption. Ms Furney replied that the miller was running some additional analysis on the last three bulk loads and would revert with their findings. Some flour was also sent for external analysis “to pinpoint what might be causing the variance in this batch.” Ms Furney requested the optimum dough temperature maintained during the baker’s fermentation, so that it could be emulated at the mill. She also advised that a bulk load which had arrived on 2 June 2017 had an analysis “in line with our target parameters”. Ms Furney and Mr Chisholm asked to meet at the baker “to see this in production and ascertain how it is performing so that we can hopefully find some correlation between testing results and process performance.”

3. [82]

   Ms Furney spoke to Mr Soria on 6 June 2017, who said the new load of flour was “the same as the last load and he is plainly cautious and only going to 78-79% Water as does not want any disasters overnight.”

4. [83]

   On 13 June 2017, Ms Furney met with Mr Bentley at the bakery and was told that the baker had decided to bring the full supply of its bulk flour to the miller. Ms Furney said she would “draft up a one page letter of agreement and sent through for your review”. On 15 June 2017, Ms Furney provided Mr Bentley with a draft Letter of Agreement. Mr Bentley advised that he had reviewed the draft “and have no changes”, other than some minor details which are not relevant for present purposes. Ms Furney said she would “work on the edits” and provide a further document. Ms Furney also reported to her staff, noting that it had taken two years to secure this deal and encouraging them to give the baker “extraordinary in order to bed this down.”

5. [84]

   On 29 June 2017, Ms Furney provided Mr Bentley with the “finalised Letter of Agreement.” The letter had some imperfections. At the outset, the letter was addressed to “Nonna’s Bakery Pty Ltd” and described an agreement between Nonna’s Bakery Pty Ltd and the miller. There was another company of that name, but it was not the baker.

6. [85]

   At its conclusion, the Letter of Agreement was not signed, albeit no point was ultimately taken on this score. I note that, on 19 December 2018, Mr Bentley emailed Ms Furney, copied to Mr Sergi and Mr Barbaro, attaching the Letter of Agreement dated 29 June 2017 (but unsigned). Mr Bentley relied on the provisions of the Letter of Agreement in respect of price reviews. Ms Furney acceded. That is, the parties treated the unsigned Letter of Agreement as binding. I will return to the Letter of Agreement in more detail shortly.

Supply begins

1. [86]

   On 1 July 2017, the miller began supplying the baker with “Nonna’s Bakehouse Bulk Flour”. Mr Chisholm said that it was the miller’s general business practice to provide a Product Specification to any new customer on the commencement of supply. (The baker later acknowledged, in a letter from its solicitor in 2022, that specifications had been provided to the baker five years earlier, that is, in 2017.) Although the Product Specification from 2017 could not be found, a later version was in evidence, dated 30 April 2019. The specification referred to “Nonna’s Bakehouse Bulk Flour”, product code “FL-NBB”, and noted:

2. [87]

   The moisture and protein was the same as the PIF, while ash had increased from 0.50% to 0.54%. (I also note that Mr Stewart had endeavoured to “get the ash … up” after the PIF was prepared.) The water absorption and falling number were not included.

3. [88]

   A “Typical Mixolab index profile” was displayed for the flour’s physical properties. Also provided was “Nutritional Information (Typical only)”, which noted, “As this product is manufactured from a natural raw material, actual results may differ from that listed due to grain and seasonal influence.” The specification concluded with a disclaimer as follows:

4. [89]

   As to whether the Product Specification provided in mid-2017 was in the same terms, Ms Furney said that updates to the Product Specification were limited to changes to the date and formatting. Certainly, the 2019 and 2020 Product Specification were identical, apart from the issue date. The 2017 Product Specification is likely to have been in similar terms to the 2019 document. It is convenient to consider what were the terms of the contract between the miller and the baker.

The contract

1. [90]

   The miller relied on the 2016 Terms of Sale (later updated in 2019), together with the Letter of Agreement. The miller submitted that no further terms were implied, as the Sale of Goods Act 1923 (NSW) allowed the parties to negate or vary these implied terms: s 57, Sale of Goods Act.

2. [91]

   The baker initially contended that the only contractual document was the Letter of Agreement, which was said to include implied terms arising from the alleged representations, together with ss 18 and 19 of the Sale of Goods Act and the common law. The implied terms were said to be:

3. [92]

   The baker ultimately contended that the 2016 Terms of Sale remained on foot as altered by the PIF and the Letter of Agreement: cl 1, 2016 Terms of Sale. The Letter of Agreement, however, was addressed to Nonna’s Bakery Pty Ltd, not to the baker. This was said to be an issue. That said, it was clear that an agreement had been reached for the supply of bulk flour.

4. [93]

   The baker submitted that the Letter of Agreement referred to the PIF, by which the miller warranted that Nonna’s Bakehouse Bulk Flour would comply with the specifications in that document, which included particular amounts of protein, moisture, ash and water absorption. Although the specification as to water absorption was removed in later PIFs, this was done without the agreement of the baker and could not be so done. (The baker’s counsel referred to the 2020 Product Specification, which was not a PIF, and so the constraint in para 1.4(6) of the PIF does not apply. Nor was water absorption referred to in the 2019 Product Specification, for that matter.)

5. [94]

   To this, the miller submitted that any reference to the PIF in the Letter of Agreement did not amount to a contractual term that the miller would comply with the specifications in the PIF in all circumstances. In any event, the language in the PIF was in terms of what was “typical” rather than what was required at all times.

6. [95]

   The first issue is whether the contract was between the miller and the baker, or with another company called Nonna’s Bakery Pty Ltd. As to how the Court ought determine the parties to the contract, one need go no further than Brereton JA’s summary in Mills v Walsh [2022] NSWCA 255 at [73]: (citations omitted)

7. [96]

   That is, what would a reasonable observer of the communications that led to entry into the contract, together with the background facts known to the parties, conclude that the parties intended that the contract would be with: Pethybridge v Stedikas Holdings Pty Ltd [2007] NSWCA 154 at [54] (Campbell JA; Beazley and Basten JJA agreeing). The legal onus is on the party asserting that a particular party is in fact and law a party to the contract: Pethybridge at [54]. As Judge Rein (as his Honour then was) observed in Blackmore Design Group Pty Ltd v Mudge (2006) 4 DCLR(NSW) 30 at 36; [2006] NSWDC 160, the question of who in fact were parties to the contract is a mixed question of fact and law and “is often a very difficult question”: at [23], citing pertinent examples of Southdown Publications Pty Ltd v ACP Magazines Pty Ltd (2003) 60 IPR 367; [2003] NSWCA 347; MacMilllan v Mumby [2006] NSWCA 74.

8. [97]

   The first contractual document was completed in 2016, when the plaintiff took over the miller’s business and entered into new supply agreements with existing customers, including the baker. In June 2016, the baker (as trustee for Nonna’s Bakehouse Unit Trust) completed a credit application with the plaintiff. Mr Barbaro and Mr Sergi signed a Directors’ Guarantee and Indemnity Deed, albeit not repeating that the baker was signing the document as trustee. The baker accepted that, when the 2016 application for credit was read as a whole, the application was made by Nonna’s Bakehouse as trustee of the Nonna’s Bakehouse Unit Trust. I agree. The contract was originally between the miller and the baker in its capacity as trustee of the Nonna’s Bakehouse Unit Trust.

9. [98]

   The 2017 Letter of Agreement was addressed to “Nonna’s Bakery Pty Ltd” and referred to an agreement between that company and the miller. There is no reference in the contemporaneous documents to any intention to change the contracting parties. Post-contractual conduct is an aid to finding what the terms of the contract were: Lym International Pty Limited v Marcolongo (2011) 15 BPR 29,465; [2011] NSWCA 303 at [125]–[126] per Campbell JA which whom Basten JA and Sackar J agreed. I note that all purchase orders in evidence were issued by Nonna’s Bakehouse Unit Trust. All invoices and receipts were issued by the miller to Nonna’s Bakehouse at the same address as Nonna’s Bakehouse Unit Trust.

10. [99]

    As the Court of Appeal recently confirmed in Zhong v Guan [2024] NSWCA 300 at [38] (Kirk JA, with whom Payne JA and Price AJA agreed):

11. [100]

    I find that reference in the Letter of Agreement to Nonna’s Bakery Pty Ltd was an error. The name was put forward by the miller and not corrected by the baker. The miller and the baker proceeded to do business nonetheless for five years. The contracting parties remained the miller and the baker as trustee of the Nonna’s Bakehouse Unit Trust.

12. [101]

    The second issue is what were the terms of the contractual arrangement between the parties, specifically, by the time that the miller supplied the contentious flour in 2021 and 2022. The question of what the parties agreed is a question of fact: Crown Melbourne Ltd v Cosmopolitan Hotel (Vic) Pty Ltd (2016) 260 CLR 1; [2016] HCA 26 at [27]. The Court must ascertain the “objective intention” of the parties, that is, “the intention that a reasonable person, with the knowledge of the words and actions of the parties communicated to each other, and the knowledge that the parties had of the surrounding circumstances, would conclude that the parties had, concerning the subject matter of the alleged contract”: Ryledar Pty Ltd v Euphoric Pty Ltd (2007) 69 NSWLR 603 at 655; [2007] NSWCA 65 per Campbell JA (with whom Mason P and Tobias JA agreed); Sagacious Procurement Pty Ltd v Symbion Health Ltd [2008] NSWCA 149 at [66] per Giles JA (with whom Hodgson and Campbell JJA agreed); Tasman Capital Pty Ltd v Sinclair [2008] NSWCA 248 at [26] per Glass JA (McColl JA and Young CJ in Eq agreeing).

13. [102]

    As to whether the contract included implied terms as a consequence of the alleged representations, I have found that the first and second representation were not made. A variant of the third representation was made, as to consistency, but does not find voice in the suggested implied terms. By and large, the remaining suggested implied terms obliged the miller to provide flour which accorded with the baker’s “specifications required” or “specifications notified”, where the baker has not established that there were any “specifications”. As such, the suggested terms do not satisfy the requirements for implication of terms as set out in BP Refinery (Westernport) Pty Ltd v Hastings Shire Council (1997) 180 CLR 266 at 282-3, in particular, the terms are not so obvious that “it goes without saying”, nor capable of clear expression.

14. [103]

    Rather, the contractual terms initially comprised the 2016 Terms of Sale. The baker accepted these terms in the credit application form. Clause 1 of the Terms of Sale provided:

15. [104]

    Further, in relation to the limitation of liability, cl 31 of the 2016 Terms of Sale provided:

16. [105]

    The question is whether the Letter of Agreement provided “additional or altered terms” under cl 1, or notified a purpose for which the goods must be fit, and which the miller accepted, under cl 31.

17. [106]

    The Letter of Agreement did not read as an agreement per se but a series of short points of practical information in respect of ordering, delivery, emergency stock and contact information. Relevantly, the Letter of Agreement stated:

18. [107]

    The scope of the project was to be identified in six weeks and completed within a further ten weeks by a team comprising Mr Soria, Mr Chisholm, Mr Stewart and Ms Furney. This portion of the Letter of Agreement indicates that the parties had not then established the specifications for the flour to be supplied but proposed to work together to establish those parameters as the flour was milled, tested, supplied and used.

19. [108]

    The Letter of Agreement then turned to payment arrangements, including:

20. [109]

    An account application was not, in fact, attached. Presumably, this was a reference to the 2016 Terms of Sale, but it does not matter as those terms applied to the parties in any event.

21. [110]

    The Letter of Agreement then turned to pricing, setting out the prices for its products in 2017, including for “FL-NBB”, being “Nonna’s Bulk Flour”. The Letter of Agreement used the product code referred to in the PIF, but did not refer to the PIF. The same product code appeared in the Product Specification, which was not referred to either. Alongside the product code, in the Letter of Agreement, was “Nonna’s Bulk Flour”. This did not match the product name in either the PIF or the Product Specification. I do not consider that the PIF was incorporated by reference, as any reference was opaque indeed. Rather, the product code was referred to in the pricing section of the letter to identify the product to which a particular price applied.

22. [111]

    Further, in construing a contract, preference is given to a construction supplying a congruent operation to the various components of the whole: Wilkie v Gordian Runoff Ltd (2005) 221 CLR 522; [2005] HCA 17 at [16] (per Gleeson CJ, McHugh, Gummow and Kirby JJ). The short-term project described in the Letter of Agreement records that the parties were going to work together to formulate the parameters for the flour, which were not then known to the contracting parties. To construe the references to the product code, “FL-NBB”, as incorporating the “typical” chemical specifications in the PIF as a contractual requirement would be inconsistent with the “Quality” portion of the Letter of Agreement, which made plain that the “target parameters” and specifications were a ‘work in progress’. In any event, I note that the chemical specifications which proved to be of particular importance to the baker, being water absorption and falling number, were only expressed as “typical” in the PIF rather than any mandatory parameters.

23. [112]

    Neither party suggested that the Product Specification was a contractual document.

24. [113]

    I consider that the effect of the Letter of Agreement was to vary the 2016 Terms of Sale by providing “additional or altered terms”: cl 1, Terms of Sale. So far as the quality of the flour was concerned, the miller was obliged to test the flour before delivery and provide a Certificate of Analysis. Further, the parties agreed to work together “to establish firm quality parameters” in light of how the flour performed in the bakery. Beyond this, the miller made no representation as to the fitness of goods supplied: cl 31, 2016 Terms of Sale. I do not consider that, as a consequence of the Letter of Agreement, “a purpose … has been notified to the Seller in writing, prior to the date of any agreement, by the Buyer, and confirmed in writing by the Seller to be applicable”, which changed that position: cl 31.

25. [114]

    The miller updated the Terms of Sale in 2019. On 17 October 2019, the miller sent changes to the 2016 Terms of Sale to Mr Sergi, Mr Barbaro and Ms Trimboli (who had signed earlier credit application forms on behalf of the baker) and “accounts@nonnas.com.au”. The baker was asked to complete and return an attached form, accepting the Terms of Sale, failing which the baker would be taken to have accepted the terms and conditions if it continued to seek the supply of further goods. There was no reply.

26. [115]

    The baker continued to order goods from the miller. Acceptance may be inferred from conduct: JW Carter, Contract Law in Australia (8th ed, 2022, J W Carter Publishing) at [3-05] and the authorities there cited. The baker’s conduct in continuing to place orders for the flour from 2019 on may be regarded as acceptance of the 2019 Terms of Sale and I so find. I will return to the relevant clauses in due course.

Trying to identify parameters

1. [116]

   Attention turned to the “short term project” referred to in the Letter of Agreement. Ms Furney said the miller had committed to working with the baker to find correlations between test results and bakery performance in order to ascertain which numbers helped them in their process and which didn’t, “Nonna’s Bakehouse hadn’t specified parameters at that point, and I think that was what we were trying to ascertain – what parameters were important to them.” Mr Barbaro agreed that there was still more work to be done by the parties to establish firm quality parameters, pre-delivery testing and reporting.

2. [117]

   On 17 July 2017, Mr Soria met with Ms Furney, Mr Chisholm and the miller’s Operations & Services Manager, Linden Cotzur, and to give them an appreciation of the baker’s process. Ms Furney said she introduced Mr Chisholm and Mr Soria at this meeting and they began their project.

3. [118]

   Mr Chisholm recalled that he was shown through the plant and briefly walked through the area where flour was delivered, the mixing room, the automatic packing, the oven and proofing rooms. The tour gave a broad overview but they did not discuss any details about the baking process, such as temperatures or products being set for any particular amount of time, save for a reference to the dough sitting for four hours. Mr Soria told him that, when receiving a new load of flour, he and the head mixer looked at the flour and prepared test batches with the aim of identifying any adjustments that may be required to adapt the baking process to the characteristics of that flour. Through test bakes, Mr Soria would work out what they needed to do, based on whether it was sticky or dry and the adjustments they needed to make to the baking process to achieve an optimal result. Mr Soria and the head mixer would then write on a whiteboard in the mixing room for the following shifts what the bakers needed to do.

4. [119]

   Following the meeting, Ms Furney confirmed:

5. [120]

   On 18 August 2017, Mr Chisholm provided Ms Furney and Mr Stewart with “Nonna’s trend analysis” for moisture and ash content. Ms Furney proposed a meeting with Mr Soria on 31 August 2017 to discuss what was going well and what could be done better including:

6. [121]

   Following the meeting on 31 August 2017, Ms Furney emailed Mr Bentley that she and Mr Chisholm had been impressed with the work that Mr Soria and Mr Barbaro had done with “QA tracking. Combining the data collated from the wheat through to end product should give us all some very powerful indicators moving forward.”

7. [122]

   In September 2017, Mr Chisholm compiled processing data provided by Mr Soria into a spreadsheet “in an attempt to identify which criteria are the best indicators of loaf characteristics.” Mr Chisholm provided the spreadsheet to Mr Soria and Ms Furney, requesting that Mr Soria continue to provide data on a weekly basis, in an attempt to correlate the miller’s test results with outcomes in the bakery. Mr Chisholm noted, “As you have already indicated consistency is the name of the game and possibly process adjustment based on [the] analysis may need to be tempered, especially at this stage, to only small movements until it can be determined how and to what level variation in test parameters effect process and loaf quality.”

8. [123]

   From 29 September 2017 onwards, the miller changed from using the miller’s manual Farinograph to the more automated Mixolab. On 5 October 2017, Mr Chisholm provided Ms Furney with updated performance data for Nonna’s Bakehouse. The accompanying spreadsheet incorporated the baker’s results with the miller’s test results for the flour provided. Ms Furney organised a telephone conference on 24 October 2017 with Mr Soria, Mr Chisholm and Mr Stewart to obtain advice on how trial flour had performed, in particular, whether water absorption levels had been realised, the overall performance of the flour through the process and whether the end product was acceptable. On 26 October 2017, Ms Furney emailed Mr Soria and Mr Barbaro, “Just looking at the results consistency looks to be spot on are you seeing this in process also?”

9. [124]

   Mr Chisholm said that he and Mr Soria were attempting to correlate a larger array of date from the baker and the miller to see if they could “actually come up with something that was actually predictive for them.” Mr Soria provided worksheets with the bakery related process data, being the actual amount of water added, mixing time and an evaluation of the final product. The data changed from sheet to sheet, indicating that there were changes in the amount of water added and the mixing time, as Mr Soria attempted to identify whether there were any observed properties in the Certificates of Analysis that he could correlate to necessary changes in the baking process.

10. [125]

    Mr Chisholm said the process was ultimately unsuccessful. There were no obvious correlations. Ms Furney agreed that the project undertaken by Mr Chisholm and Mr Soria was inconclusive, “Nonna’s did not give us any numbers that they felt correlated well with their bakery process”. Ms Furney said, “We continued supplying the flour and they continued to accept the flour so I’m assuming we were supplying to their standards.”

Uneventful supply

1. [126]

   By November 2017, the new season’s flour was becoming available. Ms Furney asked to be informed as to how this blend “handles through your process”. An analysis of the new season’s flour was also provided, together with Mr Chisholm’s comments.

2. [127]

   Ms Furney agreed that, throughout 2018, 2019 and 2020, the supply of bulk flour continued relatively uninterrupted and without complaint by the baker. There were instances where it was reported that water absorption was different and required a change in the bakery process.

3. [128]

   As is apparent in what follows, the miller continued to test flour that was sent to the baker. The baker continued to provide feedback on any problems encountered, including baking in summer or winter temperatures or where the grain was affected by drought conditions. Efforts continued to identify particular test parameters which would ensure success in the bakery.

4. [129]

   On 15 March 2018, Ms Furney reminded Mr Chisholm that they needed to review Nonna’s testing results at a meeting on 26 March 2018, with samples and testing to be carried out on starch damage and ash content. On 29 March 2018, Ms Furney informed Mr Soria that the miller had “made some subtle changes in the mill” and asked if he could collate process information for two loads which were on their way “to tell us if these have [had] positive effects.”

5. [130]

   Apparently, these loads gave poor processing qualities. This prompted Ms Furney to obtain starch damage tests to see whether this was the cause of the problem. Competitors’ products were also sent for testing, to gauge the miller’s performance within the industry. The test results were provided to Mr Soria, which noted that starch damage on the two loads was within the baker’s desired level and was consistent within a 0.1 variance between loads. The level of starch damage sat close to the industry average. (Ms Furney said the 0.1% difference in starch damage results indicated that starch damage was not likely to be the differentiator of performance.) Ms Furney welcomed the baker’s feedback and advised that the miller had also been working on water absorption and would discuss the outcomes the following week.

6. [131]

   On 4 July 2018, Ms Furney provided Mr Soria with a report prepared by Mr Chisholm in respect of the change in flour experienced over May and June 2018. Ms Furney said the results of these tests indicated that the average starch damage was 6.5%. Ms Furney believed that the starch damage increased as the miller took measures to increase water absorption. Mr Chisholm said that, at that point in time, the miller had the PIF but, other than that, “no other parameters are actually specified for anybody.”

7. [132]

   On 6 July 2018, Ms Furney followed up Mr Soria for any comments on the report. On 13 July 2018, Mr Chisholm provided Mr Soria and Mr Barbaro with a Certificate of Analysis and trend data for that day’s bulk delivery. Mr Chisholm noted that, although other parameters had remained consistent, the protein content had increased. The baker’s feedback was sought in respect of any performance improvement or variation in process which may be seen.

8. [133]

   On 27 July 2018, Ms Furney emailed Mr Soria again, to arrange a telephone call to discuss recent test results. Ms Furney noted that the test results had “proven fairly stable over the past month and a half” but wanted feedback to correlate the current test results. Ms Furney also reported to Mr Bentley, “We have increased the protein level and have seen calculated water absorption increase so I am keen to see if the consistency has given [Mr Soria] the confidence to test the water absorption out.” Ms Furney also noted that the drought was receiving some press attention.

9. [134]

   On 31 July 2018, Ms Furney and Mr Chisholm called Mr Soria to see how the flour was performing. Mr Sergi reported that the flour was taking 1% more water and had been “consistent and good”. The baker was going to start adding 1% more flour each week, “they play it a bit safe now but bakers will have to get used to a stickier dough.” Mr Chisholm also advised Mr Soria at the meeting and by email that two test parameters appeared useful to indicate whether flour would perform for the baker, being the C2 parameter in the Mixolab test, which was indicative of protein quality, and a formula to indicate specific loaf volume (SLV). Each grain lot received by the miller was being tested to obtain sufficient data to review for normal variation and to eventually identify what index level or trends would flow through to milled flour performance. The baker’s feedback to help link these results to “what you actually see” was sought.

10. [135]

    On 28 August 2018, Mr Soria reported to Ms Furney that he was adding 1% more water each week, “He said it will be more difficult working with a wetter dough and the staff will complain at first but he is going to keeping pushing it 1% per week until he hits what he sees [as] is the limit. He said he is not worrying about what the paper work is saying, just increasing it.” Mr Soria also planned to come to the mill in the coming months “to do some testing with us in the kitchen.”

11. [136]

    In October 2018, Ms Furney and Mr Cotzur met with Mr Bentley, Mr Sergi and Mr Soria, apparently to discuss 2019 pricing. In December 2018, the miller produced a mill flour protein spreadsheet, noting that the target protein for the Nonna’s Bulk Flour was 12.0 to 12.8 and target protein in wheat was 13.0 to 13.8.

12. [137]

    On 17 December 2018, Mr Chisholm contacted Mr Soria, who had been “seeing a change in bakery or flour performance. Mr Chisholm sought feedback to assist in correlating the miller’s data. Mr Chisholm provided the Certificates of Analysis and trend data for that day’s bulk delivery:

13. [138]

    On 21 December 2018, Mr Sergi advised Mr Chisholm that the bulk load was showing some variation to the previous load in several parameters, including an increase in the Falling Number. Mr Chisholm requested that no process adjustment be made until one mix lot had run, to determine how critical these variances might be in the Nonna’s system. If changes were required, then Mr Chisholm sought feedback “so we can review against flour and milling parameters for future loads.”

14. [139]

    On 2 January 2019, Ms Furney emailed Mr Soria, noting the Certificate of Analysis for that day’s delivery had “stability and softening indexes [which] have tested significantly differently without negatively affecting the load volume result. It will be worth pulling a test batch from this load for trial prior to putting the silo into production.” Ms Furney advised that she would make inquiries at the mill to see what may have affected those results and would talk with Mr Soria “to see how it processed”.

15. [140]

    On 15 January 2019, Mr Barbaro informed the miller that flour recently delivered had produced a loaf that was whiter than normal, “it has just not browned the way they do normally.” Mr Chisholm promptly emailed Mr Barbaro, advising that the change in Falling Number was unlikely to be the cause, “The falling number of the flour dropped off slightly for several batches early this year but has now returned to levels generally seen prior to Christmas. Although obviously high … no similar lack of browning effect was reported previously so it unlikely that it is the outright cause”. Mr Chisholm suggested that an increased temperatures may have contributed, including ambient temperatures at that time of year and asked whether this or anything else had changed in the process or ingredient use. Any information that could be provided would allow Mr Chisholm to modify testing to determine the cause “and hopefully offer a useable solution for Nonna’s ongoing.” Whatever the cause, the issue appears to have been satisfactorily resolved at the time as there are no contemporaneous communications for the next six months.

16. [141]

    In November 2019, the miller emailed Mr Barbaro with an update on the 2019 grain harvest, noting that the grains industry continued to suffer the ongoing severe impacts of drought. This would be the third consecutive year of severely drought-affected production. The miller would only be harvesting 10% of their family farm, and photographs were provided of the property in 2015 contrasted with 2019. The miller advised:

17. [142]

    In January 2020, the miller provided Mr Barbaro with an update on the 2020 new season wheat. The miller advised that, due to ongoing drought conditions, harvest had been completed early and quantities were well down on previous years. As the grain from the previous season became exhausted over the next two months, the miller would transition to the new wheat by increasing the percentage of new season grain into its blends. Customers were warned that, “as with every new season crop, there may be functional differences in the grain due to seasonal variation.” Initial testing indicated minimal differences with all bake trials showing consistent baking characteristics in a standard baking format but, due to continuing hot weather and grain change, flour may require a minor reduction in water additional and slightly longer mixing times for optimal performance. Further:

18. [143]

    In April 2020, the miller produced an updated Product Specification for Nonna’s Bakehouse Bulk Flour FL-NBB. It remained the same as the Product Specification issued the previous year. On 1 May 2020, the miller provided an updated PIF for Nonna’s Bakehouse Bulk Flour.

19. [144]

    In October 2020, Ms Furney provided Mr Sergi, Mr Barbaro and Mr Soria with a 2020 harvest update, noting that the majority of the miller’s grains were sourced within a 200 km radius of their mill. Wheat production was forecast to increase by 91%. Fairly obviously, the drought had broken.

20. [145]

    In November 2020, Mr Furney emailed the baker, noting that they were about to transition to the new season’s flour, “While our 2020 contracts for supply will see us through to the end of December, some of the suppliers have been caught short on actual physical stocks, having to substitute new season grain from further afield to meet their commitments to us”. Old and new season flour would be blended 50/50 before moving to 100% new season’s flour in a fortnight. Customers were invited to provide feedback on the transition.

21. [146]

    In December 2020, the miller prepared a mill protein sheet noting that the target protein for Nonna’s Bulk Flour was 12.0 to 12.8 and the target wheat protein was 13.0 to 13.8. Ms Furney advised the baker that the first 100% new season flour would be delivered on 14 December 2020 and advised that the baker would be contacted “to assess how the change went”.

2021 baking season

1. [147]

   The experts agreed that the wheat growing years of 2018 and 2019 (being the 2019 and 2020 baking season respectively) were affected by drought, resulting in wheat with a reduced moisture content, higher protein level and tougher quality protein. The wheat growing year of 2020 (being the 2021 baking season) was a record crop, with moisture and protein levels returned to normal, that is, lower than in 2018 and 2019.

2. [148]

   In January 2021, the miller was contacted by a customer, who had noticed a change in their cannoli shells using new season flour. The dough was contracting more than usual and the baker had been unable to fix the problem, having tried a couple of minor changes. The miller received a complaint from Tak On Foods in respect of bran particles. The miller’s salesman organised replacement and return. On 5 January 2021, the miller placed an order with a truck company to deliver six pallets of Farina OO to be delivered ex warehouse for Tak On Foods in Sunshine, Victoria.

3. [149]

   On 6 January 2021, Mr Chisholm reported to Ms Furney and Mr Stewart that the miller had received a number of complaints over the last two months of bran or dark specs in Farina or Special White flour “however there has been no consistency in batch numbers, time period or confirmation from additional complaints”. Seven customers had complained. Ms Furney asked her staff to find the root cause and advise what corrective actions had been implemented, “What systems have you put in place to fix it and stop it getting to customers?” Ms Furney also arranged a meeting with the team on 13 January 2021 to review the matter, including what procedures had failed and what corrective action had been taken to guard against recurrence.

4. [150]

   Other customer complaints were received, including from Hakka, who complained that the protein content had not reached the minimum required. Whether the level of customer complaint was normal or abnormal is not known. Nor could I identify any common thread in these complaints. I do note, however, that Ms Furney said that, given the widespread drought across the east coast of Australia, the miller had to go outside its normal suppliers.

5. [151]

   Mr Barbaro said that, in April 2021, he noticed differences in the flour water absorption properties and saw greater inconsistencies in the flour which the miller was delivering. Dough was sticky and unable to pass through the production line, causing it to get caught. This meant the dough had to be re-made from scratch and adjustments had to be made with the ratio of water in the mixing process. Mr Barbaro asked Mr Soria to speak to Mr Chisholm and fix the issue.

6. [152]

   On 28 April 2021, Mr Soria spoke to the miller’s Operations & Services Manager, Linden Kotzur, and said that the flour in recent weeks had been taking less water and was very sticky when mixing, producing flatter than normal bread. A recent flour delivery had been “very different in functionality”, with the flour taking more water in the mixing, taking longer to mix and producing a very dry dough which was producing a much fuller loaf. Mr Chisholm promptly responded to Mr Soria, to advise that he was investigating production and test parameters. Mr Chisholm suggested “one obvious change was the drop in ash content”.

7. [153]

   Mr Orchard considered that it was not surprising that Mr Barbaro noted changes in the water absorption properties of the dough in April 2021, this being generally the first cool month in Sydney. Bakers commonly have to re-evaluate dough temperatures at this time of the year.

8. [154]

   On 10 May 2021, Ms Furney updated Mr Soria and Mr Barbaro, advising that the miller had reviewed all data and any areas of potential variation which may have affected recent flour supplied, “we are making very controlled, one at a time fine tuning steps so that we can identify which of these, if any, directly affect your process both to improve the immediate situation but also ongoing long term supply,” The baker was asked to assist by providing feedback of all changes experienced following each delivery.

9. [155]

   On 13 May 2021, Mr Soria reported that they were “having a stable run” with no difference or issue experienced with the last two loads of flour, allowing the baker to use the same amount of flour as before. Indeed, the baker increased its flour usage, as noted by Mr Kotzur on 3 June 2021, when arranging additional deliveries of bulk tankers.

10. [156]

    On 1 July 2021, Mr Kotzur reported to Mr Chisholm, Ms Furney and Mr Stewart that Mr Soria had been having “lots of issues resulting in increased waste”. To address these issues, they had dropped the percentage of water significantly, to address “a lot of failures with the dough being too sticky to handle and the bread’s not baking properly.” Mr Kotzur asked whether the miller could provide any suggestions or make changes to the milling process. Mr Stewart responded promptly, noting that flour moisture was up while water absorption and ash were down. He suggested that water absorption might be caused by not enough starch damage in the mill, the moisture content of the flour being too high and the weather at the moment, being cold air with high humidity such that moisture was not being lost when flour was transferred in the mill.

11. [157]

    Ms Furney asked Mr Stewart to list the ways that the mill could increase water absorption for Nonna’s, in order from the cheapest to the most expensive. Mr Stewart provided five options, where the cheapest way was to change mill setup and the most expensive way was to cut back the moisture in the flour. On 8 July 2021, Ms Furney reported to Mr Soria, setting out the changes which had been made to the milling process to improve flour performance in Nonna’s specific applications. While standard tests indicated that these amendments were producing the desired analytical results, this did not necessarily reflect what may be seen in Nonna’s process “due to its specialised nature”. Further feedback was sought.

12. [158]

    Mr Sergi said that he called Ms Furney in July 2021 and asked why the miller was giving them fresh flour when it had been agreed that the miller would mill large loads of the baker’s flour, store it and draw it from the silos to ensure that it was aged and consistent. He suggested that Ms Furney invest in more silos, so that she could keep the baker’s flour separate from the mill’s other customers, to ensure that the baker’s flour was aging. (The baker’s suggestion that the miller construct silos specifically for the baker’s flour seems unrealistic.) Ms Furney said that the mill did not need more silos, but she could make sure that the flour was aged before it was delivered. Ms Furney recalled that the increased demand by the baker, at short notice, meant that the flour was not aged in accordance with the miller’s general practice. The miller included an additional storage silo into the rotation to accommodate an increased volume of flour which could be aged before being supplied to the baker.

13. [159]

    In August 2021, the miller arranged testing of flour samples for starch damage, gluten and ash content. Mr Chisholm visited the baker for the second time in August 2021. He was given a broad overview of the factory’s operations, focussing on finance and operational matters.

14. [160]

    In August 2021, Nonna’s Par Bake sold frozen sourdough to Gold Coast Bakery. The customer reported complaints about underbaked sourdough but had not changed its baking process. Further complaints followed including “huge discrepancies” with the product. Some products were very dense, causing slicing issues and poor eating quality while other loaves were drying out. There was also inconsistency in size and cracking. Nonna’s credited Gold Coast Bakery for the 22 pallets received and replaced with stock supplied. The baker did not raise this with the miller.

15. [161]

    On 3 September 2021, Mr Chisholm provided Mr Soria and Mr Barbaro with a Certificate of Analysis for that day’s bulk delivery, noting changes had been made to address the issues seen in recent production. Feedback was sought. Mr Soria reported to the miller’s salesperson that “flour [was] better and getting more water in but not back to where the water absorption was.”

16. [162]

    Ms Furney asked Mr Chisholm to provide her with the water absorption results for Nonna’s for the last 12 months. On 10 September 2021, Mr Chisholm provided Ms Furney with water absorption trends for the Nonna’s tanker deliveries, noting “We were far higher than we were initially trying to match the previous supplier but this has eventually settled to what is the current mill norm overall.” The maximum water absorption in 2017 was 66.1% but had been in the 63% range since then, with 63.1% in 2021. The miller’s Mill Protein Sheet in October 2021 recorded target protein for Nonna’s Bulk Flour at 12.0 to 12.5 and target protein wheat at 12.7 to 13.0.

A new baker

1. [163]

   Mr Soria resigned from employment with Nonna’s. Mr Soria called Ms Furney to let her know. Ms Furney was surprised. Mr Soria said, “I don’t agree with the direction the company wants to go in”. Mr Sergi explained that Mr Soria was unhappy with the restructure in the company and his new role, complaining “this isn’t Nonna’s. This is not who we are or what we stand for.”

2. [164]

   After Mr Soria left, Mr Sergi walked through the bakery with Mr Postorino and noticed buckets of dough that were being thrown out. Mr Postorino complained that the flour was not working and he needed more staff “because everything is out of whack and changing on a daily basis.” Mr Sergi told Mr Postorino to do whatever he needed to do. The baker took on more workers to monitor each section of the baking process, resulting in a “massive increase” in labour costs.

3. [165]

   The baker had hired Jorge Gironda as Research Development Manager. Although Mr Gironda was not a baker, Mr Sergi asked him to help Mr Barbaro “to get the bakery back on track and hopefully you guys can determine what is going wrong”. (Mr Gironda had been a baker for many years, but not recently). Given Mr Soria’s resignation, Mr Gironda became the “technical guy”.

4. [166]

   Mr Gironda said that the recipes and production process used by the baker were relatively new to him, as the baker produced artisan bread. The processes used by the baker were quite labour intensive with an automated production line for large commercial production, which was unusual for an artisan bakery. Initially, Mr Gironda worked closely on the production floor, in the mixing, production and oven rooms, to understand and determine whether there was any issue in the baking process. Having no noticeable issue there, he began to look into the flour being provided by the miller.

Second effort to identify parameters

1. [167]

   On 12 October 2021, Mr Gironda called Mr Chisholm to find out what kind of specifications the baker and miller had been working off. Mr Chisholm said he would send his emails with Mr Soria. Mr Chisholm provided Mr Gironda with a Certificate of Analysis for a bulk delivery together with trend data. In addition, Mr Chisholm advised that he had amended the Certificate of Analysis to include Mixolab Alveographic simulation results, which provided data on strength, extensibility and elasticity. This had not been routinely done for tanker deliveries and its direct application to Nonna’s bakery processes would need to be monitored as to its ongoing usefulness. A handbook on Mixolab was also supplied.

2. [168]

   On 15 October 2021, Mr Gironda called Mr Chisholm again, following up on the specifications. Mr Chisholm said “I don’t really have anything to send you.” Mr Chisholm also provided Mr Gironda with recent Falling Numbers for batches delivered, using their new Falling Number machine. Mr Chisholm continued to provide Certificates of Analysis and trend data for each bulk delivery.

3. [169]

   On 18 October 2021, Mr Gironda emailed Mr Chisholm and Ms Furney, noting that they had discussed flour inconsistency over the last week, being Mr Gironda’s first week with the baker, “we need to get on top of this as it is causing not only quality issues but also issues with the dough going through the line … we need to have this inconsistency looked at urgently.”

4. [170]

   Mr Chisholm responded promptly, welcoming the opportunity to have Mr Gironda’s fresh perspective and “tie down analysis requirements to those factors which provide the best control and user friendly data for you.” Mr Chisholm noted that the miller had been supplying its Premium Flour in bulk to standard specifications and had not been provided with any specific parameters by Nonna’s, as the flour had been meeting requirements within expected natural variation. While Mr Gironda was seeing variation, “it is an ideal time to try to link current data to performance and to which of these or other data is relevant ongoing to assist control in your processes.” Mr Chisholm asked to meet to discuss these matters. Mr Chisholm attached the Product Specification for Nonna’s Bakehouse Bulk Flour.

5. [171]

   Mr Gironda replied that the baker would put together a target specification for its bulk flour delivery as “our process is very unique [with] high-water levels, no processing aids besides salt and yeast … Due to this process, we need to have [a] constant product with a specific [parameter] range so we can achieve our desired product specification. Mr Chisholm was receptive “as there hasn’t been a formal study of Nonna’s specific target requirements previously.”

6. [172]

   Ms Furney arranged a telephone conference with Mr Sergi, Mr Barbaro and Mr Gironda on 22 October 2021. In preparation, Mr Barbaro requested, and Mr Chisholm provided, the Certificates of Analysis for two recent deliveries. Mr Chisholm sought the baker’s feedback on whether there was a noticeable difference in bakery performance of these products.

7. [173]

   During the meeting on 22 October 2021, Mr Gironda set out what the baker needed, being:

8. [174]

   Mr Gironda also said that the miller needed to find a way of testing its flour that suited the baker’s lean recipes and long fermentation times. Ms Furney said it would be something of a learning curve to determine the parameters for the baker’s specific process. Mr Gironda offered to come to the mill to help set up tests for the baker’s products. Ms Furney said she would arrange this.

9. [175]

   Following the meeting, Ms Furney confirmed the way forward, which was to hold weekly meetings with the objective of reviewing trial performance against the Certificate of Analysis numbers, to determine what change in numbers reflected a change in bakery process. Mr Gironda was to send through photographs and reports, with corresponding flour batch numbers, for trials during the week for discussion. The objective of this was to:

10. [176]

    Ms Furney also provided a table of parameters collated from 2021 deliveries to show the current range, and attached a report with information on the repeatability and reproducibility of Mixolab testing.

11. [177]

    A slew of emails followed between Mr Chisholm and Mr Gironda, providing Certificates of Analysis for deliveries and further information as requested by Mr Gironda, together with his results of flour trials. Mr Gironda said he observed “major changes on the flour performance” in a bake trial on 29 October 2021. Mr Chisholm sought more information on what was considered ideal for crumb structure and hole formation. Mr Gironda provided some photographs and further details, “Hope this helps you understand why we are so adamant about our product quality, we don’t get any assistance from [additives] … we just use … yeast, water, and salt, and time, add to that flour quality and consistency”. Ms Furney said this was the first time that the baker had provided specific information on its ingredients and processes.

12. [178]

    Mr Chisholm was grateful for the further information, “We have seen the basic Nonna’s process first hand but are not all that clued up on the intricacies or on what in the process you are currently taking back to the original basic.” Mr Chisholm asked whether further recipe or process details could be shared, so that the miller could consider what may assist. Mr Gironda provided some basic details, “It’s all based around a controlled process and consistency around the Flour quality and minimum help from added ingredients.” Mr Chisholm was also interested to know whether these basic steps had changed since the original recipe.

13. [179]

    The parties met again on 2 November 2021. According to Ms Furney, Mr Sergi said “I want to take the bread back to the original way, take out everything that’s getting added in, I don’t want all these additives.” Mr Chisholm also recalls speaking to Mr Gironda who said that Mr Sergi “has asked us to go back to basics, the original bread they used to make.” Mr Gironda also said “I haven’t worked with this type of production, so I am learning as well.” Ms Furney also detected that there must have been a change in the recipe because, from the miller’s purchasing records, the baker had been purchasing malt and gluten since 2017 but “it was now out of the recipe”.

14. [180]

    Also on 2 November 2021, Mr Stewart undertook a trial that involved tightening the mill roll settings with the aim of achieving higher water absorption. Limited changes were observed. He then reduced the grinding on the mill’s rolls to reduce the water absorption of the flour, but limited changes were observed.

15. [181]

    Following their weekly meeting, on 3 November 2021, Ms Furney agreed that external experts should be engaged to assist in resolving current bakery issues, being Craig Holley and Dean Campbell, who would attend the weekly meetings. Ms Furney agreed an email of instructions with Mr Sergi. Ms Furney also sent the baker a trial pallet, as the miller had changed some milling parameters, for trial and feedback.

16. [182]

    The first “Nonna’s Bread Improvement Focus Meeting” with Mr Holley and Mr Campbell was held on 5 November 2021. Mr Girondo set out desirable processing parameters and product features and described the current situation. In what appears to have been an extensive meeting, the experts discussed the various test parameters of the flour, including the Farinagraph curve, the Falling Number, protein and starch damage, together with ways that these features of the flour could be addressed during the baking process. Ms Furney provided recent test results, including on the starch damage of the flour, “starch damage is testing at 7.8 – 8.8%.” Actions were allocated, both to the miller and the baker, to trial changes to the milling process and the baking process.

17. [183]

    Mr Holley formed the view that the likely cause of the issues with the flour related to the way that the miller was grinding its wheat. He suggested that the miller undergo a series of tests to ascertain the extent of the differences in its roll setting to see if it assisted the quality of the flour it was producing. That day, Ms Furney asked Mr Stewart to conduct trials across the roller mills relating to the method and intensity of the grinding, to determine the extent to which different roll settings impacted water absorption, extraction rate and ash content. Mr Stewart spent a significant amount of time doing this, as it took six hours to mill a blend of wheat and tests were done over three blends. Little variation was observed.

18. [184]

    Mr Gironda also provided the results of his bake tests later that day, “It’s an improvement on past trials”. Mr Gironda continued to conduct bake tests, including to trial various suggestions made by Ms Furney, and had “good results on the silo flour with the inclusion of Malt and Gluten”. Mr Holley also provided Mr Barbaro with some Farinograph images, noting “The curve you currently have is more like the Premium Pastry Flour.” Mr Holley said that the Farinograph had a good strong curve, consistent with a strong pastry flour, which was not suitable for an artisan style bakery like Nonna’s.

19. [185]

    Mr Chisholm strongly disagreed with Mr Holley, noting that he had never visited Ben Furney’s mill and had no knowledge of the mill design and normal running parameters of the mill. Nor did he agree that Nonna’s Bakehouse Bulk Blend was consistent with strong pastry flour. Rather, the Farinograph curve was typical of flour which could be used for baking of the sort carried out by the baker. Mr Chisholm believed that the baker was having issues with its process and product, due to a change in its processes, “returning to the basics”. This led to difficulty with automation.

20. [186]

    Taking into account the results of the trials and testing which he conducted, Mr Stewart also did not believe that the problems being experienced by the baker were attributable to the method of milling adopted by Ben Furney. He disagreed with Mr Holley’s opinions to the contrary. In particular, Mr Stewart disputed the suggestion that the high falling number was caused by grinding the wheat too hard or too finely. Mr Stewart said that if the extraction rate had increased, this would also have resulted in a higher ash content in the flour but, having reviewed the Certificates of Analysis for bulk flour supplied to the baker from 2021 to 2022, Mr Stewart identified no material change in the ash content of the flour. Notwithstanding this, the results obtained by the baker using that flour appear to have fluctuated significantly, based on the observations made by Mr Gironda and Mr Barbaro.

21. [187]

    Mr Stewart recalled that Mr Holley had, in fact, recommended at least twice that the miller should trial an increase in its extraction rate. Mr Stewart recalled thinking at the time that some of Mr Holley’s advice was contradictory, inconsistent and perhaps misguided. As the baker was a customer, Mr Stewart tried to be polite and to consider the range of potential issues that was put to them. In any event, he trialled both increased and reduced grinding rates, which did not have a material effect on the characteristics of the flour produced by the mill.

22. [188]

    On 10 November 2021, Mr Gironda reported to Ms Furney that the flour was leaching water, which “makes it very hard to try and run this through the line at our expected water levels.” Mr Orchard said there were a number of potential causes for this: the starch damage was too high, the starter or Biga was over-fermented, the dough temperature was too high, excess of L-cysteine had been added, or the presence of protease activity in enzyme active malt flour. However, the starch damage results for the two loads of flour sent by the miller at the time were consistent and within standard industry levels.

23. [189]

    The second Nonna’s Bread Improvement Focus Meeting was held on 10 November 2021. The minutes suggest a thorough review of test results and trial bakes, with the input of Mr Holley and Mr Campbell. Mr Holley recalls that Ms Furney said that other customers were not having problems with the flour. Mr Holley remained of the view that the problem was not with the baking process but with the way that the flour was being milled.

24. [190]

    Ms Furney said that, after this meeting, she had an internal meeting with Mr Stewart, operations manager Gary Schubel and Mr Chisholm. They discussed the “many contradictory or [inaccurate] statements … made during the meeting”. Ms Furney was concerned by the inconsistencies and thought that Mr Holley’s recommendations would be more detrimental. Mr Holley’s suggestions did not make technical sense to the miller. Ms Furney said that, at the time, she wanted to be polite and so listened to Mr Holley despite her concerns.

25. [191]

    After the meeting, Ms Furney prepared a template for the baker to provide baking test results in order to assist the miller to understand how the flour, Certificate of Analysis data and the baking process were correlating. Ms Furney noted that the reports that the baker had been providing “have helped us to understand what you are doing and seeing”. Ms Furney also collated the data from trials conducted thus far into a central document.

26. [192]

    The third Nonna’s Bread Improvement Focus Meeting was held on 12 November 2021. The baker also conducted trials at the mill, testing various flour products, and adding malt and gluten. The miller found that “our flour handled the 80% hydration with ease and showed it could possible handle a little bit more.” There was a lack of yeast activity during fermentation, and further tests were proposed. The miller also had the flour tested externally.

27. [193]

    On 16 November 2021, Mr Gironda provided baking test results, “better overall results but a long way to go”. The fourth Nonna’s Bread Improvement Focus Meeting was held on 19 November 2021. In advance of the meeting, Ms Furney shared the external test results together with the miller’s results from the addition of malt and gluten. Mr Holley said he told those present that, based on the gluten trials undertaken by the miller, he considered that the issue with the flour was because of excess starch/protein damage or bran contamination during the milling process. Mr Chisholm said he would review this with the milling team.

28. [194]

    Following the meeting, Mr Barbaro provided Ms Furney, Mr Holley and Mr Campbell with links to resources on how to choose flour. Mr Holley also called Ms Furney to explain the alterations which he suggested to the milling process, and Ms Furney said she would pass this on to the milling team.

29. [195]

    Ms Furney also reported to Mr Stewart, “I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. They are saying the flour is not consistent between the [last two] deliver[ies]”. Ms Furney asked the Mill Manager to take samples from each tanker when loaded and also to think of “something extreme” that could be done to ensure the consistency of Nonna’s products.

30. [196]

    The miller continued to conduct baking and analytical tests internally. Ms Furney also contacted an external tester, Dr Ken Quail, of Aegic to see whether he could assist, noting: (emphasis added)

31. [197]

    Ms Furney spoke to Dr Quail on 23 November 2021. Ms Furney recalled that Dr Quail told her that the Certificates of Analysis presented a consistent product. Further, Dr Quail said that the baker was “probably too focussed on the numbers and not the bakery process”. Dr Quail thought that a flour for the baker’s purpose would contain 12.5% strong protein and have a falling number target of 350. Malt could be added to achieve that target.

32. [198]

    Later that day, Ms Furney met with Mr Sergi at the baker’s office and reported on the result of the recent trial and her review of the milling process. Ms Furney said that she had gone as far as she could and suggested that Dr Quail be consulted. Ms Furney drew an analogy between the baker’s process and driving a Ferrari, suggesting that the baker was “operating right on the edge at high speeds and one small mistake ends in a disaster … You are running your doughs right on the edge at high water absorption with little tolerance, which requires great control, or it will end in disaster.” Mr Sergi suggested that the baker might have to buy flour from another supplier along with the miller and Ms Furney said she would respect his decision. Mr Sergi’s recollection of this conversation differed. The differences do not much matter.

33. [199]

    Emails continued to pass between Mr Gironda, Ms Furney and others, passing bake test results and suggestions backwards and forwards. On 22 November 2021, Mr Gironda advised that the products had improved with respect to volume “if we can continue with a similar volume and cell structure until the New Season arrives that would be great.” Mr Chisholm shared the test results on yeast conducted at the mill with Mr Gironda. On 29 November 2021, Ms Furney sent through further test results on the addition of malt. Mr Barbaro asked the miller to send through full test results for bagged flour, albeit the miller did not usually do this. The miller complied.

34. [200]

    On 2 December 2021, Dr Quail provided his report of analysis on five flour samples. Mr Gironda proposed a meeting on 6 December 2021, including with Dr Quail, noting that the baker had been “focussing on every aspect of the production process” to “try and bring back the quality of our bread that customers expect from us”. What remained was to manage the main raw ingredient, being flour, “We have achieved good results over the last 2 weeks, we now just want to put in place consistency of the Deliveries before they are put into our silos.” As I read Mr Gironda’s email, his arrival as baker had led to a complete review of the baker’s processes.

35. [201]

    The baker and miller met on 6 December 2021 with Dr Quail and Mr Holley. After the meeting, Mr Barbaro shared Dr Quail’s test results with Mr Campbell and Mr Holley. Mr Gironda also asked Ms Furney to run further tests on flour sent to the baker including on bagged flour. Ms Furney agreed and also advised that the miller was trial milling the new season flour and would deliver a pallet to the baker.

36. [202]

    On 7 December 2021, Mr Gironda did a test bake with the addition of 2% gluten. Dr Quail responded, “it looks like your process/product demands that extra strength. Let’s hope you can get that result consistently.” The miller did similar tests. The miller also tested malt flour supplied to the baker, and shared the results with Mr Gironda. On 16 December 2021, Mr Chisholm responded to Mr Gironda’s report of a yellow dough appearance, advising that he could not reproduce this result at the mill’s test facility.

37. [203]

    On 16 December 2021, the miller informed its customers of a price increase, effective for January 2022. Mr Gironda expressed his discontent to Mr Sergi and Mr Barbaro, noting that the baker’s usage of malt and gluten had increased “due to poor quality flour, so it’s a bit unfair for us to try and absorb all the cost.”

38. [204]

    On 20 December 2021, Nonna’s Bakehouse’s management team met. Mr Sergi noted that he was meeting with Aldi soon, “Quality has not been consistent … Pat and Jorge are working on the breads to improve the quality.” The production team noted that flour issues were improving. Work also appears to have been underway with employee training and education, and reviewing policies and recipes. Nonna’s Bakehouse’s financial results also appear to have been “not good”.

39. [205]

    Mr Chisholm said that, from October to November 2022, when he was attending meetings with the baker, the miller did not receive any complaints from other customers about the quality or performance of the premium flour, which was flour milled to the same specification as Nonna’s Bakehouse Bulk Flour.

2022 baking season

1. [206]

   The miller communicated with its customers in respect of new season flour, noting that the grain harvest was being delayed by continuing wet weather, and the grain was of lower quality, with much of it being downgraded to stockfeed. Much lower volumes of milling wheat flour would be available in Australia, which would see an increase in price on the previous year. In addition, the flour characteristics would see prominent changes, “Due to drought conditions over the past five years protein levels & flour strength have drifted above the industry standard. In contrast this season’s cooler, wet conditions will see protein levels across the board come back down to pre-drought standards.” The miller recommended that mixing times and water temperature be carefully monitored in the customer’s process.

2. [207]

   Ms Furney said that the 2021 harvest and the consequential flour supply in 2022 was, across the industry, one of the wettest seasons for a very, very long time. There were some complaints from customers as to how to adapt the flour characteristics to the bakeries’ processes. The miller worked with customers to help them to adapt to the circumstances that they were all facing.

3. [208]

   In January 2022, Mr Barbaro asked Mr Chisholm to undertake further malt and gluten tests on flour being dispatched to the baker, whilst Mr Chisholm enquired as to how the baker had gone with the trial new season’s flour. Mr Chisholm also advised that it was “not practical with other commitments to do the whole spectrum [of tests] for every tanker load supplied ongoing.” Mr Barbaro replied “I understand you won’t be able to do it all the time” but pressed for the tests to be undertaken before the new season flour arrived. Mr Chisholm obliged.

4. [209]

   Mr Barbaro asked for the dates of when the flour, and the last two loads, was actually milled. Mr Chisholm sought guidance from Ms Furney as to whether to send this information, as Mr Barbaro had not given any indication of an issue “so unsure why he wants this but we need to be careful he doesn’t require it for every load ongoing and sets a minimum requirement or something similar.” As Mr Chisholm was away on holidays at the time, Mr Barbaro then asked Ms Furney for additional tests. Ms Furney spoke to Mr Barbaro and Mr Gironda and sent a detailed email seeking clarification on precisely what tests would be useful, given that each test came at a cost.

5. [210]

   Separately, Mr Chisholm suggested to Ms Furney that the degree of testing being sought by the baker was not sustainable for each tanker load, as many samples took two to three hours to complete, “they really need to work addition rates themselves ongoing, especially as our testing is a long way from their process.” Mr Chisholm suggested that the baker should supply samples of successful combinations for testing instead. Meanwhile, Ms Furney provided the tests for the last two loads.

6. [211]

   On 14 January 2022, the miller provided its customers with the test results on the new season’s flour. Mr Barbaro also supplied Dr Quail’s test results to Ms Furney. Mr Gironda complained to Mr Sergi and Mr Barbaro that the miller’s test results for the new season’s flour “tells us nothing” unless the miller was, effectively, reproducing Nonna’s baking process. Mr Gironda suggested that the miller engage Dr Quail to visit the mill “to see if he can help them put in place a test that simulates our process and send us across numbers that would help us determine what is the right changes to make when we get each tanker.” Mr Gironda appears to have considered that the miller should set up its milling process to suit Nonna’s Bakehouse’s process precisely. This seems unrealistic.

7. [212]

   Ms Furney reviewed Dr Quail’s test results and advised Mr Barbaro and Mr Gironda that the tests appeared to have been done on different apparatus from that at the mill. Ms Furney said that she would check this with Dr Quail. Ms Furney also provided Mr Barbaro with a re-test of the new season flour and asked how the baker had done moving on to that flour. On 16 January 2022, Ms Furney did a re-test and noted “The very first softening number is an abnormality and a changing dev[elopment] time and stability – all other parameters consistent”.

8. [213]

   On 21 January 2022, Ms Furney called Dr Quail to discuss the methodology and comparison of test results obtained by Dr Quail and the mill. On 23 January 2022, Ms Furney emailed Dr Quail, copied to Mr Barbaro, Mr Gironda and Mr Chisholm, attaching the mill’s Certificates of Analysis, a link to a handbook on the Mixolab, and posing various questions which had arisen with the baker as to differences between their respective results. Ms Furney sought Dr Quail’s recommendations as to how to get the most meaningful data and to analyse it for use in the bakery application. She offered a visit to the mill if it was considered beneficial. Mr Barbaro and Mr Gironda were asked to respond with feedback if Ms Furney had missed or misinterpreted anything.

9. [214]

   On 24 January 2022, the miller informed the baker of the new prices for 2022. The miller and baker also met, following which the miller agreed to test the next six loads for gluten quality and to continue to send the Farinagraph results as well “and then we can review their usefulness”. Ms Furney noted that she was pleased that the baker was “seeing improvement”. Ms Furney also asked milling staff to check the test results for the last load as it “doesn’t seem right”. Mr Stewart was asked to get a Farinagraph reading for the next five deliveries, as the baker was going to see if that was more helpful than the Mixolab data.

10. [215]

    After testing and re-testing a recent bulk delivery to the baker, different results prompted Mr Chisholm to observe, “shows the natural variation seen with these tests eh!”. Ms Furney was confused. Mr Chisholm explained:

11. [216]

    On 1 February 2022, Dr Quail emailed Ms Furney, Mr Barbaro, Mr Gironda and Mr Chisholm, endeavouring to reconcile his test results with those obtained at the mill. Dr Quail did not use a Mixolab but was “old hat” and used an Alveograph. Dr Quail apologised that there were “not more straightforward answers” and further, “add to this the high hydration doughs that Nonna’s is using and there really are no simple answers.” Mr Chisholm concurred, emailing Ms Furney:

12. [217]

    Mr Gironda’s focus on the miller’s Certificates of Analysis is evident from his emails with the mixing room floor as to a reduction in the addition of malt, “I’m putting trust on Sarah and her team to feed us reliable information. As the new season flour has a lower Falling Number, the addition of malt also drops …”. On 4 February 2022, Ms Furney instructed mill staff to add the “date milled” to Nonna’s bulk deliveries, as requested by the baker.

13. [218]

    On 8 February 2022, Ms Furney and Mr Chisholm spoke to Mr Gironda, who reported “flour going well and they have been doing a lot of work on training the bakers as they found that the bakery process was “all over the place”. They have gained two new bakers … They are working on putting systems in place.” Mr Gironda was going to run a trial with minimal malt and no gluten “To see what they get.” The baker was currently using 1.5% gluten addition but was thinking of reducing it to provide a buffer for the baker. The baker was also adding less water to bread for Aldi as they wanted it denser, but were adding more water to Nonna’s bread to give it a more open structure, “He says now the quality is improved their sales are picking up”. The next day, Gironda reported that using no gluten had not been successful to “achieve what customers expect of our bread.”

14. [219]

    On 9 February 2022, Mr Chisholm provided a Certificate of Analysis and trend data for that day’s bulk delivery. Mr Barbaro asked for the flour to be re-tested as the “tested numbers look very different”. Mr Chisholm agreed, although noted that the results were consistent with recent batches and appeared to be in normal ranges. Mr Chisholm asked how the flour was performing in general and whether the baker had seen useful correlation between bakery performance and the analysis results provided, “It would be great to hone in on specific analyses which provide you with the best indicator for your process and remove those which may be clouding what is most useful.” Mr Barbaro replied, “the water is one thing” but the last two loads of flour “aren’t holding up as well as previously.”

15. [220]

    Mr Chisholm repeated the test and provided the results to Ms Furney, noting minor variations, “unfortunately we’ve never been able to obtain sufficient data from Nonna’s … which may assist in determining how much difference would actually indicate a bakery performance change.” The repeat results were provided to Mr Barbaro.

16. [221]

    On 14 February 2022, Mr Gironda texted the recent Certificate of Analysis to Mr Barbaro, noting that the reduction in the Falling Number meant that the baker needed to add twice as much malt. Mr Gironda suggested that the miller would not look into it and that he would contact Dr Quail. Mr Gironda also emailed Ms Furney, expressing “my frustration to where we are at currently with our flour”. Although three weeks earlier, he was quite happy with progress and was considering removing gluten, he now sought an explanation as to “why things have gone downhill so fast”. Adding gluten was said to be financially unsustainable.

17. [222]

    Ms Furney promptly engaged with the customer. A meeting was held on 15 February 2022, when the baker requested a change to their Certificate of Analysis testing to make the results more meaningful to them, changing from Mixolab testing to a Farinagraph and Extensograph test, with details of the required testing itemised by the baker. Ms Furney also sent the baker a pallet of high protein flour for trial. Ms Furney said that the miller changed its testing apparatus from the Mixolab to the Farinograph and Extensograph.

18. [223]

    On 17 February 2022, Mr Gironda emailed Ms Furney, thanking her for their frank and honest discussion but said he had lost all confidence in the Certificate of Analysis that came with each flour delivery, “they don’t reflect our process. Here at Nonna’s we have a unique process (you call it like a Ferrari) as discussed, the equipment used to test the flour does not reflect our process in any way … it is a unique way of making bread.” Whilst the miller had a specially blended flour, Mr Gironda said the baker should have been using this since when these issues began four months earlier. A sample was requested for trial, with accompanying test analysis. The increased price of that product was said to be something that Ms Furney needed to work out with the baker “but please remember, our Gluten usage has increased 3-fold over the last 2/3 months”.

19. [224]

    Ms Furney confirmed that the Certificate of Analysis template had been updated by Mr Chisholm and a pallet of high protein trial flour was being delivered with an accompanying Certificate of Analysis. Mr Gironda requested a further pallet with a higher protein content so that the baker could stop adding gluten, “we want to get away from this, go back to our old recipe.” Mr Gironda was not happy with the higher protein flour either, suggesting “it can only be how it is being milled and blended? But I’m not a miller, just a simple baker”. At the same time, there was a sharp decrease in flour usage by the baker, with a number of bulk deliveries cancelled.

20. [225]

    On 23 February 2022, Dr Quail provided a further analysis of five samples. Ms Furney sought trial process data sheets from the bakery for comparison. Ms Furney also provided Dr Quail’s test results to the baker.

21. [226]

    On 24 February 2022, Ms Furney spoke to Mr Gironda, who said he was “struggling with staff”. Ms Furney asked him about the flour and he said he was able to get a good loaf. From Ms Furney’s note, it appears that some of the problems being experienced at the bakery were with a lack of staff or untrained staff. They discussed test results. Ms Furney “told him this season would probably not be realistic [that] we would get these numbers. Told him we had tested competitors flour and ours [was] running [the] highest protein [with] all Farinagraphs looking the same. He said he tried all the competitors flours and none of them worked other than [one] flour at 14% - but he said you shouldn’t need 14%”. Ms Furney recalled Mr Gironda saying that the baker did not want the flour to change at all and wanted the boys in the bakery to be able to do the same thing all of the time. Ms Furney said that she did not think she could give him what he needed.

22. [227]

    On 25 February 2022, Mr Gironda emailed Ms Furney, advising “We’re still struggling with the flour” with the new high protein flour “not a great improvement”. Mr Gironda provided the parameters needed by the baker for water absorption, stability, softening, development time, ash and extraction rate and a graph setting out the desired properties. Ms Furney responded that further testing would be done at the mill to ascertain how we can take the flour to these numbers”. Ms Furney recalled that she discussed these number with Mr Gironda and then said to him “I just don’t think I can. Looking at what we’ve got, looking at the numbers our flours are achieving, it’s not there – I don’t think we can get there.”

23. [228]

    Whilst Ms Furney recalled this conversation happening at the same time as the conversation set out in the previous paragraph, this was incorrect, as the date of the file note of the previous conversation makes plain. Whether Ms Furney said this to Mr Gironda on 24 or 25 February 2022 does not much matter. Ms Furney said that Mr Gironda asked the miller to take a look at whether the parameters could be achieved and Ms Furney said the miller would do some testing to ascertain if they could do anything to achieve those numbers.

24. [229]

    Ms Furney tasked Mr Stewart with the testing. A test pallet of strong gluten flour was dispatched to the baker. Ms Furney suggested a malt addition of 0.17%. Mr Barbaro queried the Farinagraph results, and Ms Furney provided an explanation of the method used. Mr Barbaro noted that there may be different methods used by the miller’s staff and he just wanted to make sure that he could rely on the Certificate of Analysis. Ms Furney replied that she had spoken to those who were doing the testing to ensure consistency and would “keep an eye on it”. Mr Barbaro asked Ms Furney to re-do the Certificate of Analysis.

25. [230]

    On 8 March 2022, Ms Furney spoke to Mr Gironda, noting that flour usage had reduced. According to Ms Furney’s note, “Flour has been performing well in baking.” On 9 March 2022, Mr Gironda confirmed that the flour trial had gone “very well”, both with gluten and without. Mr Gironda posted a screenshot on LinkedIn, noting 100% hydration, on a full scale production scenario, “very satisfying to see if flow through with no issues on the line”. Thumbs up emojis abounded. Mr Gironda provided a written report on 10 March 2022, noting that all results were “very satisfactory” albeit other parameters might need attention, “we are heading in the right direction”.

26. [231]

    On 16 March 2022, Ms Furney spoke to Mr Gironda again; it appears that he was continuing to wrestle with staffing and training challenges. Ms Furney said she had been doing some research and enquired whether the baker would consider using gluten strengthening enzymes to help give its process a buffer. Mr Gironda said he had been looking into enzymes as well. Ms Furney offered to make up some concentrate packs of enzymes for the baker to add at the mixer and trial. On 17 March 2022, Ms Furney followed up Mr Gironda for further feedback, noting that the miller had been working on options to strengthen the flour.

27. [232]

    On 18 March 2022, the miller provided a Certificate of Analysis with a new batch delivery. The baker’s text messages noted “we haven’t had that stability before”. Ms Furney also provided some test bake results on 19 March 2022. Mr Barbaro asked Ms Furney to re-do the Certificate of Analysis. Ms Furney acquiesced. Mr Barbaro also enquired where starch damage was for the new season’s flour. Ms Furney advised that she would forward test results for starch damage when received, but followed up Mr Gironda on using enzymes in the baking process and running a trial. Mr Gironda provided Ms Furney with an article on starch damage, highlighting that “with long fermentation process the effect [of damaged starch in providing substrate] is substantial. It has been determined that the level of damaged starch is less important in whole meal bread than in white bread. It can lead to disastrous results during bread making.”

28. [233]

    On 24 March 2022, Mr Gironda emailed Ms Furney regarding a Certificate of Analysis recently received, “the numbers don’t look too crash hot!!! Hopefully we get good results in the morning!!!” However, Mr Gironda texted Ms Furney that results were very good “but this will only work with consistency of the flour delivered”. This trial included enzymes. It appeared to Ms Furney that the baker had experienced improved baking results using enzymes at the 1% inclusion rate.

29. [234]

    On 29 March 2022, Ms Furney provided Mr Barbaro and Mr Gironda with the starch damage results for the new season’s flour, indicating that starch damage was very consistent. Mr Gironda still considered the starch damage to be too high for their long fermentation and proofing process, which required its flour to have a starch damage range of 6 to 7.5%, “how can we bring it down to a more manageable number?” Ms Furney said she would look into it. Ms Furney said this was the first time that she had been told by the baker that it required its flour to have starch damage in that range.

30. [235]

    On 4 April 2022, Ms Furney sent an email to Mr Gironda, advising that the miller had prepared a second enzyme trial for the baker. Ms Furney did not receive any substantive feedback from the baker about the enzyme trial. Ms Furney decided not to make any further suggestions as to possible improvements or fixes for the baker’s baking processes. Mr Sergi said he did not want to use enzymes as it was not a natural product. Malt was fine as it was a natural product and he was prepared to use it until the new season of flour arrived, but nothing else, “it’s not what we do.”

Non-payment

1. [236]

   In April 2022, the baker fell behind in payments. Mr Sergi called to explain that they had some equipment purchases due and Aldi had held up payment at the same time. Mr Sergi asked for more time to pay. Ms Furney advised that she would provide a repayment arrangement, and did so. At the same day, Mr Gironda posted on LinkedIn, “We are currently heading in the right direction with our formula, so simple and yet so difficult once you are in the 100% water level range.”

2. [237]

   On 20 April 2022, the baker’s general manager, Theo Athanasiadis, advised Ms Furney that he would be discussing the payment plan with Mr Sergi and the CFO, Peter Monov, that morning but understood that they needed to pay more weekly to catch up the deferred payments.

3. [238]

   On 22 April 2022, Mr Gironda emailed Ms Furney regarding the change in the performance of the flour when switching to the new delivery. Ms Furney commissioned external testing. Ms Furney observed to Mr Gironda that “nothing stands out as vastly different” on the two Certificates of Analysis. On 27 April 2022, Ms Furney provided Mr Athanasiadis with a cheaper alternative of obtaining gluten directly from the supplier.

4. [239]

   On 28 April 2022, the baker placed a further purchase order, being the first of 55 purchase orders which were unpaid and in respect of which the miller seeks judgment in these proceedings. Over the period of time to which these purchase orders relate, Ms Furney said the miller supplied flour to the same specification to numerous other customers, without complaint. Only one customer requested assistance, being a bakery in Corowa. Nor was Ms Furney aware of any complaints which the baker was receiving from its customers.

5. [240]

   On 6 May 2022, Ms Furney pressed the baker to honour the deferred payments arrangement. On 10 May 2022, Ms Furney reported to her colleagues that Mr Monov had apologised and said they were making progress with Aldi and short paying other suppliers to get increased payments to the miller. He thought Mr Sergi may been busy as a new general manager, Daniel Isaac, had started. The same day, the baker made what proved to be its last payment to the miller.

6. [241]

   On 12 May 2022, Mr Isaac attended a management meeting. The minutes record that a range of problems was being experienced at the bakery including production lines, equipment, and employees. Mr Gironda advised that mixing was going well and that there had been an improvement with staff, whilst Mr Barbaro expressed a concern that flour quality was inconsistent. It does appear that the baker was experiencing challenges on a number of fronts. There appears to have been a number of changes of personnel as well, including the baker’s general manager and QA manager.

7. [242]

   On 16 May 2022, Mr Gironda complained that the baker had been “having a run of very unstable flour. All vital [parameters] are out of whack”. Ms Furney was asked to explain. Ms Furney promptly responded. Mr Gironda replied, “whatever QA has done, it still doesn’t look good on the floor … the flour [has] nosedive[d] … We can no longer sustain this going on for much longer as our reputation is on the line here.” (Mr Gironda seemed prone to hyperbole in his communications).

8. [243]

   Mr Gironda provided the Certificates of Analysis for previous deliveries of flour which had worked in the past. Ms Furney sought input from her team. Mill Leader, James McGorman, replied that he was “at a bit of a loss” as to what to say as “they haven’t really given us very much info other than the bread isn’t working and they have had to drop the water”. Ms Furney responded to Mr Gironda in some detail, noting:

9. [244]

   Mr Gironda replied that he was adjusting gluten and malt to reflect the different test results. He was reluctant to use enzymes unless there was stability in the deliveries as sometimes the baker changed to a new silo overnight, “We just need to understand what has gone wrong since when we were nearly there … at the beginning of the year [until] now.”

10. [245]

    On 19 May 2022, Ms Furney replied, noting that the suite of industry standard test results only provided broader indicators, “if there is [no] correlation I’m not sure where we go from here with regards to testing that may help.” As to enzymes, Ms Furney noted, “A thought is that it just may be that the wheat quality this year with a softer finish at harvest just may not be able to do the job by itself that you require from it without some form of fortification.”

11. [246]

    Ms Furney said she attempted to deal with the issues raised by the baker as best she could but, having reviewed the relevant Certificates of Analysis, she could not identify any changed parameters in the flour delivered to the baker during that period of time which would account for the variable results in their baking processes. Ms Furney agreed that the miller could have sourced grain from other areas but “I’m not sure that it would have had different characteristics.”

12. [247]

    On 30 May 2022, a further delivery of flour was sent to the baker, but Mr Gironda was pessimistic of the results when the baker changed to the new delivery, given the Certificate of Analysis. In June 2022, the miller installed a new Farinagraph, which Ms Furney warned Mr Gironda and Mr Barbaro produced “a very different looking report”. Mr Gironda complained that the most recent flour delivery was “playing havoc with our process” and asked to look at a different blend of grains.

13. [248]

    At the same time, the baker was not observing the repayment plan. Mr Monov assured Ms Furney that Aldi was now “back on track” and the baker was negotiating with its banker. On 20 June 2022, Ms Furney pressed Mr Monov to bring the account up to date, seeking a commitment to make weekly payments and bring the account back within normal trading limits. They spoke on 24 June 2022, when Mr Monov said that $30,000 would be transferred that day but he was seeking approval from Mr Sergi. On 28 June 2022, Ms Furney emailed Mr Monov and Mr Sergi, noting that the account was now $300,000 outside trading terms and no further terms could be extended.

14. [249]

    On 5 July 2022, Ms Furney followed up Mr Monov and Mr Sergi, expressing concern at the absence of communication. Mr Monov confirmed that there would be a payment of $50,000 to $55,000 that week. Noteworthy, there was no suggestion from the baker’s staff that the reason for non-payment was related to flour performance.

15. [250]

    Ms Furney pressed for a conference call. Ms Furney asked Mr Sergi, Mr Isaac, Mr Gironda, Mr Barbaro and Mr Monov for agenda items. In preparation for the meeting, Mr Chisholm also worked on a graph to assist Nonna’s to calculate the percentage of malt addition, incorporating the test results to date, rather than doing a separate test on the Falling Number machine. On 21 July 2022, Ms Furney provided a statement of account to Mr Monov and Mr Sergi, noting that $439,913.59 was overdue.

16. [251]

    For its part, the baker’s staff prepared an extensive list of points for the meeting with the miller. Mr Sergi was to emphasise how much flour issues had cost the business. The addition of gluten had led to extra cost. Extra labour and expenses were said to have been incurred due to flour issues, as well as wastage and a number of customer complaints.

17. [252]

    The parties met on 27 July 2022. The miller’s notes of the meeting indicate that the baker relayed the concerns compiled in its preparatory notes. Ms Furney said she listened to the baker’s representatives for about an hour before responding that, based on her investigations, the flour supplied by the mill had been of consistent quality. Further, the flour sold to the baker made up 50% of the miller’s flour sales and worked for all of its customers except them.

18. [253]

    After the meeting, Ms Furney wrote to Mr Sergi, advising that the miller was prepared to establish a credit limit of $800,000, with weekly payments to be made to ensure that the account was kept within limits. From 1 September 2022, the baker was to make additional repayments to reduce the overdue total of some $400,000, being an additional $30,762.60 per week for 13 weeks. If the account was not within limits then dispatches would be delayed until it was.

19. [254]

    On 28 July 2022, the baker held a production meeting. The baker noted that wastage costs due to the miller’s flour “need to be found” and a partnership discussed at the next meeting with the miller. Mr Barbaro reported that flour quality from the miller had improved but needed to be monitored. Production staff needed to be trained.

20. [255]

    On 29 July 2022, the baker’s general manager, Mr Isaac, emailed Ms Furney, noting that the baker “only went through less than a dozen or so points with over 30 plus points to bring to your attention” regarding their concerns with the flour received over the past six to eight months. The baker agreed to bring its account into current terms but wanted to meet “to allow us to present the remaining challenges and the losses that have impacted our production efficiencies and cashflow. Once this is compiled [he wished to] come up with a compromise and a plan for the outstanding debt moving forward”.

21. [256]

    On 1 August 2022, Ms Furney replied that the last weekly payment had not been made and the miller was not going to be distracted from the overdue account nor negotiate anything other than payment until the account was in terms. On 2 August 2022, Ms Furney spoke to Mr Isaac in firm terms.

22. [257]

    Mr Isaac pressed for a meeting at which it was proposed to present detailed documents setting out “the pain” and losses that the baker’s business had endured for a lengthy time. It does appear that the baker was seeking to deploy these matters to negotiate a financial compromise with the miller in respect of a significant outstanding debt. Ms Furney replied that she would not be entering into any further dialogue “about your production issues” until there was written commitment to a repayment plan, which was a condition of continued flour supply. On 5 August 2022, the baker’s production meeting minutes record that other flour suppliers would need to be found.

23. [258]

    Meanwhile, Mr Chisholm provided Mr Gironda with his chart to assist the baker to identify the relevant percentage of malt to add to adjust the Falling Number. On 12 August 2022, the miller also commissioned external testing. Mr Sergi also spoke to Ms Furney, asking the miller to acknowledge the cost to his business because of inconsistent flour, “[the] New Zealand guys said flour was biscuit making quality. I want to gather my data and get it through to you.” Ms Furney said she understood that the baker had had issues, but said that the flour supplied had been consistent and good quality for all customers, “Perhaps it is just not right for your process. I have never heard any feedback that the flour was biscuit quality and it definitely was not. We briefed you at the beginning of this year that this year is a low protein year – we will need to look at additional gluten or strengthening alternatives. We spoke with Ken Quail and your team and they agree that they agreed that they will add the gluten at the bakery … when needed and to suit your process conditions.” They agreed to speak further.

24. [259]

    On 15 August 2022, Mr Gironda emailed Ms Furney, advising that the flour had been okay over the last few deliveries, but some problems had been noticed that day. The reason was sought. Ms Furney called Mr Sergi and said she had given the matter further consideration and must insist on adherence to the repayment plan.

25. [260]

    Mr Barbaro added his own complaints on 16 August 2022 “to continue our partnership based on transparency”. Mr Chisholm promptly replied, noting that the issues with the last two deliveries were “somewhat perplexing as the majority of analysis results indicate typical flour characteristics in the middle to upper bands of flour strength.” Deliveries with similar figures had been previously provided without reported issues and were within what was considered the normal expectation for the flour. Further:

26. [261]

    Separately, Mr Isaac proposed to commit to a weekly payment of $10,000 for the next four weeks only but “in the spirit of partnership” to work closely with the miller “to bring a resolution to the challenges that we have encountered in the past 12 months.” The baker’s strategy was, with respect, fairly transparent. Ms Furney declined the repayment proposal and advised that unless a full payment plan was submitted, there was no option but to cease supply.

27. [262]

    The baker began purchasing flour from another supplier. Notwithstanding this, Mr Gironda continued to send long emails to Mr Chisholm setting out flour issues, professing to have eliminated “the staff factor”. Mr Gironda did not agree that it was a matter for the baker to make additions to the flour in order to achieve its baking process; it was for the miller to adjust its process, “please provide us with the right fuel to run the Ferrari.” Mr Gironda complained that the ‘fuel’ deliveries were inconsistent and this was the miller’s problem, which had become the baker’s problem as well. Mr Gironda pressed for tests to be done on each bag of flour and not just bulk tankers. Later that day, having received no reply for her request for a payment plan, Ms Furney ceased supply. Nonetheless, Mr Chisholm separately responded to Mr Gironda’s queries about his malt graph.

28. [263]

    On 31 August 2022, the miller’s solicitors sent a letter of demand. Mr Isaac approached Mr Campbell and Mr Holley to see if they could assist in supporting the problems experienced with the miller’s flour. Mr Holley and Mr Campbell provided a comparison report between the baker’s flour and that of the new supplier on 9 September 2022. The baker’s solicitor responded to the letter of demand, contending that the flour was not of acceptable quality and had caused the baker to suffer substantial loss. The baker was in the process of finalising the details and would respond in due course. The miller’s solicitor rejoined. On 21 October 2022, the baker’s solicitor replied that the flour was not fit for purpose or of merchantable quality and contended that the baker had sustained losses totally some $2.6 million. Further correspondence ensued. These proceedings were commenced in November 2022.

Breach of contract

1. [264]

   The baker submitted that something dramatic occurred in mid-2021 and, despite no changes being made to the baker’s operations and recipes used, the bread manufacturing process was thrown into disarray. Once the baker changed supplier in 2022, matters returned to normal. Everything pointed to the miller’s flour as the source of the problem, coinciding with harvest issues in New South Wales. Despite this, the miller continued to procure wheat from local growers in the knowledge that the resulting flour would not meet the baker’s specifications. The experts were said to agree that the flour was not fit for purpose.

2. [265]

   The baker submitted that the miller’s internal records showed that the flour did not comply with the required water absorption percentage. (Mr Chisholm’s email of 10 September 2021 noted that average water absorption that year was 62.4%, whilst the PIF referred to “Typical 64%”.) Whilst the flour could be used, it required the addition of gluten, malt and enzymes, which was a fundamental change to the way that the baker made its bread. This involved additional labour, ingredients and increased wastage. The baker submitted that it was not until early 2022 that the miller said that it could not provide flour suitable to the baker’s needs. But there was no evidence that the miller could not obtain grain from another location to provide flour complying with the baker’s specifications. Rather, there was an election made by the miller not to do so, for commercial reasons. Where the only way that the flour could be used by the baker was to change its recipe and manufacturing processes, the flour could not be said to be fit for purpose.

3. [266]

   The miller submitted that the question of fitness for purpose invited a preliminary question of what purpose. If the purpose was making artisan bread, then Mr Barbaro accepted that the baker used flour supplied by the miller to make such bread, which the baker sold to its customers, from 2017 to August 2022. Rather, the baker’s suggested fitness for purpose was to make bread without having to add much, if anything, and minimal variations from year to year. The miller queried whether that was even possible, but contended that such a purpose did not form part of the parties’ contract. Mr Barbaro accepted that the miller had never said it could give the baker flour irrespective of the weather, and accepted that that would be a ridiculous assurance.

4. [267]

   The miller submitted that, whatever difficulties there may have been with flour from a particular harvest, the Court would not be satisfied that the miller was in breach of contract. There was no contractual basis to deny the obligation to pay the unpaid invoices. The Terms of Sale gave the customer seven days to return goods that were not acceptable. The evidence indicated that any problems with the flour would have become apparent in the first 18 to 26 hours. Any issues encountered with the flour from 2021 to August 2022 never rose to the level of the baker attempting to reject or return the flour or to simply stop ordering it.

5. [268]

   In deciding whether the miller breached the contract, it is obviously fundamental to have regard to what the miller’s contractual obligations were. The 2019 Terms of Sale and the Letter of Agreement contained the contractual terms which governed the flour supplied in 2021 and 2022, about which the baker complains.

6. [269]

   Turning to the 2019 Terms of Sale, the terms began: (formatting added to assist comprehension)

7. [270]

   Clause 31 of the 2016 Terms of Sale was repeated in cl 49 of the 2019 Terms of Sale:

8. [271]

   As earlier considered, the effect of the Letter of Agreement was to vary the Terms of Sale by providing “additional or altered terms”: cl 1, Terms of Sale. So far as the quality of the flour was concerned, the miller was obliged to test the flour before delivery and provide a Certificate of Analysis. Further, the parties agreed to work together “to establish firm quality parameters” in light of how the flour performed in the bakery. Beyond this, the miller made no representation as to the fitness of goods supplied: cl 49, 2019 Terms of Sale. I do not consider that, as a consequence of the Letter of Agreement, “a purpose … has been notified to the Seller in writing, prior to the date of any agreement, by the Buyer, and confirmed in writing by the Seller to be applicable”, which changed that position: cl 49.

9. [272]

   Although efforts were made by the parties to arrive at specifications and parameters, both after the Letter of Agreement in 2017 and, again, in October 2021, none were formulated. There was simply ongoing communication between the baker and the miller as to how flour was performing, whether changes made at the mill made a difference, and what other steps could be taken at the bakery to achieve its desired results.

10. [273]

    The Terms of Sale provided that “In order to purchase Goods the Buyer must place a Purchase Order with the Seller and such Purchase Order may be accepted or rejected by the Seller”: cl 5. That is, the miller was not obliged to supply flour. Nor was the baker obliged to place orders with the miller, either for any particular quantity or exclusively. Purchase Orders were accepted by the Seller subject to a condition that the Buyer agreed to pay the prices appearing on the Seller’s price list: cl 6. The baker was obliged to pay interest at 10% per annum calculated on daily balances of amounts unpaid: cl 52.

11. [274]

    The miller relied on cls 21 to 24 of the 2019 Terms of Sale, which provided: (formatting added to assist comprehension)

12. [275]

    The baker did not claim the right to reject any flour, nor to return goods for credit. Mr Barbaro said it was “very hard to reject the flour because we’ve got big contracts to fulfill, and it comes from Dubbo, how are we going to send it back? … where are we going to get the flour to make the bread for our customers.” He did not agree that the baker had the option to reject the flour “not at the level we are at”. Mr Barbaro also said it was not possible to seek a refund “because we needed to use that flour to produce for our clients. … where … would we have got the flour from if we had to send it back … and not use it?” (He did agree, however, that the baker could have returned bagged flour.) Instead, the baker used “stuff to fix it while we are waiting for the flour to get better … in new season, we went with that option as we were guaranteed that next season will be better.” Mr Sergi and Mr Gironda said likewise.

13. [276]

    The point, however, is that the baker, having failed to claim any right to reject the flour, is “deemed to have accepted the Goods”: cl 21. And the baker did more than accept the flour; the baker proceeded to use the flour to make baked products, which it sold. The baker continued to order more flour until the miller refused supply.

14. [277]

    As for lay evidence, Mr Gironda agreed that the flour supplied by the miller in March and April 2022 was very good but complained that the flour was not consistent; two deliveries would have been very good but the next few “would have been horrendous … and it would have been everybody on the floor trying to solve it. … the next delivery was good again.” Mr Gironda said that “natural variation is one thing” but they were having variations on a weekly basis. Mr Gironda said that he and Mr Barbaro had to attend when new flour was delivered to assist the floor staff to handle fluctuations in the flour. Whilst the baker could train floor staff to do the same thing all the time, “You can’t teach someone to do that.” He also complained that the Certificates of Analysis were “all over the place” and “meant nothing to us”.

15. [278]

    Ms Furney agreed that the job of a miller is to take the grain which is supplied in any given season and adjust the milling parameters to ensure that the flour which is delivered is of the same consistent quality. Ms Furney said “the quality of the flour was there … all the testing done on the flour met the parameters that we milled to, [indicating] a good quality flour”, but it did not perform to what the baker desired in its bakery. The grains which the miller was able to acquire did not have the characteristics required by the baker to do the job by itself but, with the addition of fortification, the baker was manufacturing and selling bread. Ms Furney said that this was “an industry problem that the proteins [were] down across the industry. When that happens, it is custom for bakeries and manufacturers to adjust to those different flours. … It’s not just a Ben Furney issue, it’s a marketplace issue.”

16. [279]

    Mr Barbaro agreed that, on receipt of a bulk load of flour, the baker will do a test bake to tell you how the flour is going to perform and what might need to be done in minor adjustments, such as increasing mixing time or adding extra water. But he considered “there shouldn’t be any additives, anything else to put in” which he regarded as a major adjustment, including malt or gluten or enzymes. Nor did he accept that it was up to the baker to make adjustments to the flour, “The flour wasn’t suited for our purpose and we had to change things for that flour to work, which is not Nonna’s way of doing things.”

17. [280]

    As for expert evidence, the experts agreed that the miller’s flour specification was “very basic”, providing only a minimum protein, maximum moisture and target ash level. This was less that what was usually provided in the industry. (I note that the Product Specification was formulated at an early stage, before the parties began the “short term project” to identify parameters and specifications.) The experts agreed that the miller was aware of the baker’s baking process, as a consequence of visits and communications between the parties, but it appeared that the miller “lacked bakery technical understanding of the artisan baking process used by Nonna’s Bakery.” The extent to which a miller could be expected to have “bakery technical understanding” of their customer’s baking processes was not explored.

18. [281]

    The experts agreed that some of the problems arose as different test equipment was used, and changed, over time. Mr Orchard said that some confusion appears to have arisen where Mr Gironda was referring to a water absorption range of between 80% - 100%, being a “baker’s percentage”. That was not the level of water absorption measured on flour testing machines such as a Farinograph or Mixolab. The experts also agreed that the various tests only indicated so much. Mr Baert said that the quality of gluten could not always be seen in the lab, “it’s in the bakery that they experience it.” Mr Orchard agreed that everything done in flour testing was an indication, but the only significant test was how it baked in the bakery, “we have a bunch of tests to try to help that. Guarantees, we don’t have.”

19. [282]

    The experts agreed that the 2021 wheat harvest had a lower protein content, weaker protein and lower falling number due to widespread rain. Mr Orchard said that the 2022 baking year was a difficult year and required a deep technical knowledge of what the baker was going to do with the flour. Neither the miller nor the baker appeared to have understood the implications of a wetter harvest and both made errors in finding a solution.

20. [283]

    Mr Baert reviewed the Certificates of Analysis provided by the miller from July 2021 to August 2022. The average stability time over four consecutive years significantly dropped, indicating to Mr Baert that the protein quality of the flour supplied from July 2021 to August 2022 was not suitable for artisan breadmaking. Mr Baert also noticed large variances in the specifications of flour in any consecutive delivery, pointing to differences in stability and development times. He considered that the flour did not have the quality of gluten required during this period for bread manufacture, let alone artisan bread manufacture.

21. [284]

    Mr Baert also considered that the variances in deliveries would have made it almost impossible to achieve a consistent quality of bread manufacture or to develop a process to manufacture artisan bread without the use of additives. The flour did not have the required strength to withstand mixing and high water absorption required to manufacture artisan bread. The stability was not in line with the required specification to manufacture artisan bread. Mr Baert considered that the problems with the flour were caused by low grade wheat arising from flood and heavy rain conditions at the time. Mr Baert said the flour supplied was more suitable to be used as animal feed, but revised this at the beginning of the expert conclave to say that the flour was more suitable for making biscuits.

22. [285]

    Mr Orchard reviewed the Certificates of Analysis for the flour supplied to the baker and concluded that it complied with the specifications in the PIF. Mr Orchard also reviewed the documents indicating how the baker had endeavoured to work with the flour during the period of difficulty, and said this was not uncommon in either artisan or industrial bakeries, where a degree of change to the formulation will take place. Production staff will look at the temperature of the day, the temperature of the water and the quality of the products being manufactured and change the process accordingly. Such changes may need to be made on a daily basis. Quite commonly, this will include adding malt if needed.

23. [286]

    Whilst Mr Orchard agreed that, broadly, the baker followed an artisan process, what was less common was the use of a reducing agent, L-cysteine, in an artisan process. That ingredient broke protein down and its usage level needed to be tightly controlled. There did not appear to be a quality department in the baker’s organisational structure. To further add enzymes, apparently in response to Mr Holley’s concern that the falling number was too high, required extremely close monitoring when coupled with L-cysteine. Also fundamental to the artisan baking process was the correct fermentation of the starter or biga. The minutes of the technical meetings suggested that this was the subject of trials by the baker at the time. In addition, Mr Orchard was concerned that Mr Barbaro wanted to use a fixed breadmaking process. In Mr Orchard’s experience, it was unusual for bakeries not to alter their processes to take into account changes in the weather and raw materials.

24. [287]

    Mr Orchard considered, having reviewed the minutes of the technical meetings, that there were inconsistencies in dough manufacturing by the baker and indications that it did not have control of the Biga fermentation process at the time. While Mr Gironda was complaining that the starch damage of the flour was too high, Mr Holley was recommending an increase in starch damage. Mr Orchard did not believe that excessive starch damage was causing the problems in bread quality being experienced by the baker at the time.

25. [288]

    Mr Orchard did not agree with Mr Holley’s suggestion that the miller’s extraction rate at the flour mill was too high. The ash level of a flour is the most commonly used measure for the extraction rate of a flour mill. The only ash level quoted by Mr Holley was 0.56%, which was not excessive and very close to the specification for Nonna’s Bakehouse Bulk Flour. Further, Mr Holley was incorrect in his interpretation of a high Falling Number result for flour. Contrary to Mr Holley’s understanding that a high falling number indicated an increase in amylase activity, the opposite was the case. Mr Orchard said that a review of the technical meeting minutes indicated that the falling number of the miller’s flour was typical for baker’s flour milled in Australia during that period.

26. [289]

    Mr Orchard considered that the addition of enzyme active malt flour, following Mr Holley’s comments at one of the technical meetings, was one of the causes of ongoing bread quality issues at Nonna’s Bakehouse. Mr Orchard considered that trialling a higher protein flour was a worthwhile exercise but should have been preceded by trials removing L-cysteine and the enzyme active malt flour, as both agents weaken the dough and counteracted the increase in protein. Other trials could have altered the dough manufacturing method by reducing mix and fermentation time. Another option would be to change the source of flour by changing the miller.

27. [290]

    Mr Orchard was not sure that the baker understood the particular aspects of the flour that it required either. In doing so, Mr Orchard referred to the minutes of the meeting between the baker and Dr Quail, who asked, “some really pointed questions”. The baker’s answers indicated that the baker did not understand their process to a “deep technical level either”. He described the meeting with Dr Quail as “pivotal”; the minutes of the meeting giving a “real window” into “what’s going on in there.”

28. [291]

    Mr Orchard considered that the crux of the issue was that the baker wished to avoid changes in the baking process. In Mr Orchard's experience, it was highly unusual to take this approach. The more usual practice was for the bakery to vary dough water levels and temperature, dough mix times and proof times according to the prevailing weather conditions and ingredients. This practice of varying the process to create the very best possible loaf was generally regarded as the skill of the baker. Mr Orchard said that adding gluten to dough was commonly done and was generally not regarded as being artificial.

29. [292]

    Mr Orchard was of the opinion that the flour supplied by the miller was reasonably fit for the purpose of making artisan bread. He suggested that the baker stop using L-cysteine and malt flour. More attention should be paid to consistency in the fermentation of its Biga. Dough mixing and fermentation times should be adjusted to create the best possible bread, including using a fermentation time which was shorter than 4 hours.

30. [293]

    As to whether the miller performed its contractual obligations, in April 2021, the baker was experiencing some problems using flour supplied by the miller. As it had done in previous years, the miller worked with the baker to try and gain improvements in the flour’s performance, and some improvements appear to have been achieved. The baker proceeded to substantially increase the amount of flour ordered. Presumably the baker formed the view that it could make its baked products with this flour.

31. [294]

    The problems experienced at this juncture may have been due to the change to cooler months, as suggested by Mr Orchard. It may also have been due to the miller sourcing grain from beyond the pool of its usual growers, as admitted by Ms Furney, given the drought the previous year. Providing such wheat may have been at odds with the miller’s representation that it would provide consistent flour, sourced from a known pool of local growers. But it is not suggested that consistency was an implied term of the contract, nor that the baker relied on the representation made years earlier in 2017 when ordering flour in 2021. More fundamentally, the contract did not include any specifications for the flour, such that it cannot be said that the flour did not comply with such specifications.

32. [295]

    A significant event happened in September and October 2021, when Mr Soria left the baker’s employ. Mr Gironda took over the role. Four changes appear to have occurred at this time.

33. [296]

    First, there appears to have been a difference in approach by Mr Soria and Mr Gironda, presumably reflecting their different expertise. As Mr Chisholm described it, Mr Soria did a test bake for each tanker delivery of flour, worked out the adjustments which needed to be made to the baking process, and left instructions for the bakers as to what they needed to do when using the flour in their shifts. Mr Soria was “not worrying about what the paper work is saying” but made adjustments to the baking process to accommodate the test bake results. Mr Gironda appears to have focussed more squarely on the test results provided in the Certificates of Analysis, perhaps reflecting his recent years of experience in research and development rather than in a bakery.

34. [297]

    Second, the baker’s artisan recipes and baking process were new to Mr Gironda. Presumably, it took a little time for him to gain mastery.

35. [298]

    Third, Mr Sergi appears to have taken the opportunity of a change of baker to return to the baker’s original recipe. This departed from Mr Soria’s process of adding gluten or malt if needed to achieve a consistent baking product.

36. [299]

    Fourth, it is apparent from the contemporaneous emails that Mr Gironda undertook a thorough review of the baker’s processes. Minutes of the baker’s management meetings record that processes were being reviewed, together with the training of staff. There also appears to have been issues with obtaining and training staff at the time.

37. [300]

    I note that Mr Orchard was asked to assume in cross-examination that the baker’s process had not changed and could be removed as a likely cause of the problem. Mr Orchard replied “the number of complaints over the years that I’ve investigated where … clients … have said that the process hasn’t changed when in reality it has changed … so … I can’t be confident in that … in my experience.” I consider that Mr Orchard’s observations were apt. The contemporaneous records indicate significant changes at the bakery in late 2021.

38. [301]

    Consistently with this, Mr Orchard said it would be unusual to have an issue in the second half of a good harvest year, as the flour supplied would have become quite settled by that time, “in my experience [it is] unusual to have … a complaint of this nature in the second half of the year, because everything’s generally quite settled … It would appear that … something has changed.” It would be unusual for a baker to “turn around and go its [the] flour cause … they have already supplied it for a period of time. Their grist, I would assume, has been quite consistent over that time.”

39. [302]

    Mr Orchard also observed that the flour which was suggested to be problematic was sourced from two harvest years. The 2020 harvest year (2021 baking year) was unremarkable. The 2022 baking year was a difficult year. I agree that the fact that the baker’s problems spanned two quite different harvest years suggests that the problem may be with the baker, rather than with the grain and how it was milled.

40. [303]

    I consider that, whilst there may have been some inconsistencies in the flour in 2021, in the sense that the flour was sourced beyond the usual pool of local growers, by far the greatest changes which occurred in that year was the change in the head baker, the recipe and the baker’s overall approach. I am not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that problems experienced with the flour in 2021 were referable to any breach of contract by the miller, particularly where the miller made no representation as to the fitness of the flour: cl 49, 2019 Terms of Sale. Nor had the parties agreed on any specifications or parameters with which the flour did or did not comply.

41. [304]

    The flour supplied by the miller in 2022 presented challenges for the baker, given lower protein as a consequence of the wet growing season. Where the baker had recently returned to its original recipe, disclaiming the use of gluten and malt, problems ensued. Two months into the 2022 baking year, Ms Furney told the miller that she did not think the mill could provide the flour that the baker required. The baker continued to order flour from the miller nonetheless. The miller continued to make suggestions as to how the flour could be successfully used, including with the addition of enzymes or using a higher protein flour. The baker’s philosophy was that it should not be obliged to make any changes and the flour should perform the same, day in and day out, without modifications in the baking process. That was not a contractual requirement. Nor had the parties agreed on any specifications or parameters with which the flour did or did not comply. There was no breach.

Damages

1. [305]

   If I am wrong about this, then it is necessary to consider the baker’s claim for damages for breach of contract. The baker contended that, as a consequence of problems with the flour, the baker was required to significantly increase labour costs and buy additives to produce a product to its customers. The baker sought damages of $2,525,418, comprising labour costs of $2,425,462 as calculated by Mr Giliberti plus the cost of gluten, $99,956.00, to deal with the quality issues with the bulk flour.

2. [306]

   The baker submitted that, having elected to fill an order, the miller must have been satisfied that the flour would meet each of the warranties in the PIF, as referenced in the Letter of Agreement. (I have concluded that the PIF was not so referenced). The baker submitted that the disclaimers in the PIF related to nutritional information and was not a disclaimer of any liability. The second disclaimer was said to be incapable of effect. The terms of the 2017 PIF were said to be unknown and any changes to that PIF had not been agreed to by the baker. The miller elected to supply flour in circumstances where it knew that the flour could not and would not meet the specifications, or that it would cost the miller more to acquire grain which did. (It was not clear how this argument worked from February 2022 on, when the miller advised the baker that it could not provide the flour that the baker needed, but the baker continued to place orders for flour nonetheless.)

3. [307]

   The baker submitted that the Terms of Sale did not exclude the claim for damages. Mr Giliberti adopted a sound and appropriate methodology. Whilst he did not audit the financial statements for the Nonna’s group of companies, he checked the relevant invoices. Mr Russell had been provided with all relevant information to prepare a calculation, but was not instructed to do so. Other than suggesting possibilities that may have an impact on Mr Giliberti’s calculations, which were considered and discounted by him, there was no substantive challenge to how he had undertaken his task.

4. [308]

   The miller submitted that the baker had accepted all of the goods supplied, as it did not give notice of a claimed right to reject those goods in accordance with cl 22 nor return the Goods within seven days in accordance with cl 23. Instead, the baker ordered more flour. Irrespective of whether it was possible to return the bulk flour, the baker did not need to order more. It was the miller, not the baker, that brought an end to the supply of flour and that was because of non-payment of invoices.

5. [309]

   The miller submitted that Mr Giliberti’s analysis was replete with difficulty. There was a difference of professional opinion between the accounting experts as to the extent to which the financial statements of other companies could be incorporated into the calculations. Whilst Mr Giliberti had assumed that the companies were related entities, operated by family members, that was not obviously so. The Court had not been presented with unqualified or particularly persuasive evidence as to loss such that the Court would not be satisfied that the baker had suffered some $2.14 million as calculated by Mr Giliberti.

6. [310]

   As for lay evidence, Mr Sergi said that the baker incurred increased costs as a consequence of the problems with the flour, although there was an increase in sales as a result of the Covid-19 lockdowns. He said that Nonna’s Bakehouse had experienced financial hardship as a result of the miller. Mr Sergi also said that the problems with the flour prevented him from working on other projects that he was developing to expand the business including new products, a complete rebrand of the company and developing a larger range of gluten free products.

7. [311]

   Mr Barbaro said he had never experienced issues with flour like the issues experienced with the miller from July 2021 on. The wastage was significantly higher, making less bread with the same amount of flour. The baker was manufacturing approximately 16% to 22% less product compared to previous months based on the flour the baker was purchasing. The production team was under stress. Mr Barbaro was working extremely long hours. Additional labour was hired.

8. [312]

   Mr Gironda said that the baker purchased more gluten and malt, together with additional flour to deal with increased wastage. More tubs of dough needed to be made as a goodly proportion had to be thrown out. This meant the baker needed to order more raw materials. Whilst usually one or two staff members worked at each stage of the baking process, an additional staff member had to be added to each area, together with a senior member on the floor supervising production. Instead of one person reviewing the bread for compliance, two to three people were needed. Extra cleaning staff were also needed to clean wet dough from the production lines and take wasted dough and non-conforming product to the bin.

9. [313]

   From July 2021 to August 2022, bakery manager Mr Postorino took photographs with his mobile phone of bakery products he understood had been discarded as a result of quality issues with the flour supplied by the miller. He took the photographs as part of his ongoing efforts to monitor and address issues relating to inventory management and waste reduction. Wastage was also recorded in a notebook. Neither the photographs nor does the notebook provide sufficient detail of the precise reason why these baking products were discarded and do not assist me in resolving the issues in this case.

10. [314]

    As to the accounting side of things, Mr Barbaro said that Nonna’s Bakehouse was the ultimate holding entity of companies which form part of the Nonna’s Group of Companies. Further detail was provided by financial controller, Mr Kim, albeit he commenced working for Nonna’s Bakehouse after the events with which these proceedings are concerned. Mr Kim said that the business known as “Nonna’s Bakery” was operated by a group of 11 companies. Nonna’s Bakehouse Pty Ltd is the main operating entity, which manufactures baked products and incurs all labour, material and equipment costs associated with production, including the cost of ingredients such as flour, gluten, malt and grains. Nonna’s Bakehouse sources its labour from Bakers 4U Pty Ltd (Mr Barbaro is a director of that company; the shares are owned by Calo Investments Pty Ltd). Additional labour was sourced from independent third-party contractors. Nonna’s Bakehouse sells goods to external and internal customers. The internal customers on-sell the products to supermarkets and food manufacturing companies.

11. [315]

    As for expert evidence, Mr Giliberti was asked to assume that there were issues with the flour supplied between July 2021 and August 2022. Whilst there was an increase in sales in the 2021 financial year, Mr Giliberti was instructed to assume that this was due to the COVID-19 lockdown and the fact that Nonna’s Bakehouse was an essential business.

12. [316]

    The two inputs into Mr Giliberti’s calculation were the direct cost of labour and sales. As to the direct cost of labour, Mr Giliberti said the bulk of the additional labour costs were incurred by Nonna’s Bakehouse directly, engaging independent contractors in cleaning, production and packaging. Mr Giliberti also included labour costs on-charged by Bakers 4U, even though these figures did not appear in Nonna’s Bakehouse income tax returns or financial statements. Mr Giliberti was unable to determine the basis on which Bakers 4U on-charged labour costs to Nonna’s Bakehouse. He simply took the figures as charged, but in respect of production line employees only. Mr Russell did not agree that including the labour costs of Bakers 4U was correct, but used it for the purposes of the exercise.

13. [317]

    As to sales, Mr Giliberti agreed that there was no suggestion that the supply of flour resulted in a reduction of sales. Mr Giliberti used external sales, whilst Mr Russell also included Nonna’s Bakehouse internal sales. This was the main reason for the difference in their results.

14. [318]

    Mr Giliberti calculated that direct labour costs as a percentage of sales was some 31% in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 financial years but increased to 43% in the 2022 financial year before returning to 32% in the 2023 financial year. There was also an increase in the cost of gluten, relative to the value of sales, from July 2021 to August 2022 when compared with the months prior to July 2021. However, in the context of the total costs of ingredients, Mr Giliberti considered that the increased cost of gluten was not materially significant. Mr Giliberti calculated that the additional cost of direct wages cost the baker $2,142,606, being 19.5% of sales. This comprised additional contractor costs of $1,886,671 and additional wage costs of Bakers 4U of $255,935. In his second report, Mr Giliberti calculated a labour-to-manufactured quantities ratio and calculated a loss of $2,425,462. Mr Giliberti remained of the view that the best available measure of loss was the earlier and lower figure of $2,142,606.

15. [319]

    Given his instructions, Mr Giliberti did not consider whether there was any better flour available to the baker during this period. Mr Giliberti did not compare the baker’s experience with other bakeries, including whether other bakeries suffered a spike in labour costs in the 2022 financial year. Nor did Mr Giliberti make any allowance for labour costs associated with Covid. Mr Giliberti disagreed that his calculations were affected by Nonna’s Bakehouse’s development of a new product, as he was only looking at the labour costs related to the production of bread, not the pursuit of new products or opportunities.

16. [320]

    Mr Russell generally did not agree with Mr Giliberti’s methodology or calculations, where reliance was placed on accounting records that had not been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and relied on accounting records and trading results of companies other than Nonna’s Bakehouse. Mr Russell considered that the method of allocation of costs was unorthodox, unusual, and not in accordance with the basic accounting principle of matching income with expenses. Further investigation was needed. Nor had Mr Giliberti reviewed the accuracy of the allocation of labour costs, or the appropriateness of the accounting treatment, but had accepted the financial records at face value. Nor could Mr Russell make sense of the financial records himself.

17. [321]

    Mr Russell considered that Mr Giliberti’s model implicitly assumed that any labour increase was a result of faulty flour, without examining the reasons behind the increase. While it was clear that labour costs did increase, there was no apparent reason for the increase from the financial accounts or the information made available to him. Mr Russell contended that a preferable approach was to look at the wage and labour records and try and work out how and why it occurred. The largest contributor to the increase in cost was subcontractor costs for the 2022 financial year. This may indicate that the cause of the increase in labour costs was a restructuring of the workforce, Covid-related issues or some other issue not related to faulty flour.

18. [322]

    Using Mr Russell’s approach, variations existed between the ratio of wages to sales from year to year but the variations were not significant and actually increased after the 2022 financial year. Even using Mr Giliberti’s calculations, Mr Russell noted that the cost of production for each manufactured product reduced in the 2022 financial year. Mr Russell’s analysis indicated that, while the overall direct labour and subcontractor costs increased in the 2022 financial year when compared with prior years as a percentage of sales, those costs continued to remain elevated in the 2023 financial year, when flour was no longer sourced from the miller. This indicated that a further review of the costs increase of direct labour and subcontractors was warranted. The fact that the miller ceased supplying flour to the baker in August 2022 indicated that any increased costs may not be in relation to claimed faulty flour related issues.

19. [323]

    The general measure of contractual damages is the amount, so far as money can provide, necessary to put the plaintiff in the position they would have been if the contract had been performed: Koufos v C Czarnikow Ltd (The Heron II) [1969] 1 AC 350; Wenham v Ella (1972) 127 CLR 454 at 460; [1972] HCA 43 (per Barwick CJ); Burns v MAN Automotive (Aust) Pty Ltd (1986) 161 CLR 653; [1986] HCA 81. Assessing such damages requires the Court to compare the actual position of the party who sustains a loss by reason of the breach to what that party’s position would have likely been in a counterfactual scenario in which the contract was performed: Brighton Automotive Holdings Pty Ltd v Honda Australia Pty Ltd (No 2) [2024] VSC 262 at [74] (per Matthews J).

20. [324]

    However, cl 50 of the 2019 Terms of Sale provided: (formatting added to assist comprehension)

21. [325]

    Clause 51 concerned the supply of goods to a Consumer as defined in s 3 of the Australian Consumer Law and, thus, may be put to one side. Loss meant any liabilities, losses, damages, costs and expenses (including legal costs and expenses, regardless of whether incurred or awarded) arising in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise: cl 72.

22. [326]

    The first question is whether the baker’s claim for additional expenses involved in using the Goods, being labour and ingredients, was excluded under cl 50(a). I take “consequential loss” to be a reference to loss suffered by the Buyer as a consequence of the Seller’s supply of Goods, either in accordance with the contract or at all. The baker’s contention that it suffered loss and damage in the form of additional outlay on labour and ingredients falls within this description. Likewise, the suggestion that the baker incurred additional expenses falls within “liability for … loss of all actual or anticipated profit”, where an increase in expenses as a consequence of the Seller’s supply of Goods must have the result that the baker’s profit is thereby reduced.

23. [327]

    As such, the baker’s contention that the miller is liable for the additional labour costs and ingredients is excluded by cl 50(a)(i) in the 2019 Terms of Sale. If I am wrong about this, then the miller’s liability is limited by cl 50(b) to effectively, the cost of the flour supplied during the relevant period. I do not know what that figure is, but it is not what Mr Giliberti has calculated.

24. [328]

    If I am wrong about that, then it is necessary to consider the measure of contractual damages, based on the competing views of Mr Giliberti and Mr Russell. It has to be said that Mr Giliberti’s analysis was very simple. That does not mean it was wrong, but it does mean that it may be of limited utility if the broad assumptions he was asked to make prove ill-suited to the facts as I have found them to be.

25. [329]

    I consider that it is prudent to exclude the labour costs charged by Bakers 4U to Nonna’s Bakehouse, to the extent that those labour costs were not included by Nonna’s Bakehouse in its financial statements and tax returns. Where those financial statements were prepared on an accrual basis, the labour costs charged by Bakers 4U to Nonna’s Bakehouse should already be included in those accounts. This reduces the additional labour costs to $1,886,671. As to whether to include internal sales, I consider that Mr Russell’s approach is preferable, as labour costs are incurred in order to generate all sales. Likely, the sale price to external customers was higher than internal sales, but it should not matter as long as the same method of calculation is used in all financial years, that is, one is comparing ‘apples with apples’.

26. [330]

    On the calculations of either expert, the labour-to-sales ratio increased markedly in the 2021 financial year by 11 to 12% from the previous year. The difference between the experts, however, is that in the subsequent financial year 2023, the labour-to-sales ratio reverted to historic levels (on Mr Giliberti’s calculation) or reduced only slightly (by 3%, according to Mr Russell). In that year, the miller no longer supplied flour to the baker. The fact that Mr Russell calculated only a slight reduction in labour costs after the miller ceased to supply the baker undermines confidence that the miller’s flour was the problem.

27. [331]

    Further, what is immediately striking from the historical financial performance of the baker, for the 2019 to 2023 financial years, is the significant increase in the baker’s sales over those years, increasing by 45% overall. Whatever is said to have been wrong with the flour provided by the miller, it does not appear to have affected sales.

28. [332]

    The second thing which draws the eye is the additional direct labour costs in the months when Mr Soria was running the bakery, when Mr Gironda began to run the bakery, and when the new flour began to be used in the bakery in early 2022. Data was collated from July 2021. In the four months from July to October 2021, additional labour costs ranged from $413 to $120,325, with an average additional labour cost of $60,582. Mr Gironda took over the bakery in October 2021. He was dealing with the same flour as Mr Soria, being flour from the 2020 harvest and supplied for the 2021 baking season. But the additional wage cost significantly increased in November and December 2021, to an average of $242,488.

29. [333]

    The new grain from the 2021 harvest began to arrive at the bakery in early 2022. Additional wage costs remained high in January, February and March 2022, with an average of $249,005. Labour costs then dropped in the months which followed, which may suggest that the baker had worked out how to use that season’s flour.

30. [334]

    What these figures suggest is that at least some of the increased labour costs are unrelated to the quality of the flour, but related to the change in the head baker, a reversion to the original recipes, and a general overhaul of the baker’s processes including procedures and staff training.

31. [335]

    And what should be done about the fact that, in February 2022, Ms Furney told the baker that the miller was not able to supply the flour that it required, but the baker continued to order flour nonetheless? How can any additional labour costs be said to be caused by the miller’s breach of contract, where the baker requested flour knowing that it could only be used with additional staff? I consider that the cause of any loss from March 2022 on is the baker’s decision to order flour in those circumstances, rather than any breach of contract by the miller.

32. [336]

    Doing the best I can, I would endeavour to remove the additional labour attributable to the change in head baker, recipe and approach from October 2021 on by using the average additional labour cost for the months preceding the change of baker from Mr Soria to Mr Gironda, being some $60,000 a month. I would allow the additional cost until the end of February 2022, after which the baker was ordering flour which it knew was unsuitable. The resulting figure is $480,000.

Set-off

1. [337]

   The baker contended that it was entitled to set-off the loss and damage suffered against the whole of the miller’s claim under s 21 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW).

2. [338]

   The miller submitted that s 21 of the Civil Procedure Act depended on “mutual debts”, of which there were none: s 21(1). The section did not apply to the extent that the parties had agreed that debts (whether generally or as to specific debts) may not be set off against each other: s 21(3). The parties agreed that there could not be set-off in clause 18 of the Terms of Sale.

3. [339]

   The baker made no submissions in support of set-off, and I take it to have accepted the miller’s submissions. For completeness, s 21 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) provides:

4. [340]

   Importantly, “debt” means a liquidated claim: s 21(6). The baker’s claim for damages is an unliquidated claim. The baker did not point to any other common law or equitable rights. Further, cl 18 of the 2019 Terms of Sale provided:

5. [341]

   The parties have agreed that debts may not be set off against each other, albeit the claim for damages is probably not a debt either: cl 18, 2019 Terms of Sale. Where the onus of establishing a right of set-off is on the baker, I am not satisfied that it has been established.

Estoppel

1. [342]

   Finally, the miller submitted that, by the baker continuing to order flour from June 2021 to August 2022, to pay for flour until April 2022, and to continue until August 2022 to make statements about bringing its payments up to date in due course, the baker may be taken to have represented, or alternatively, the parties may be taken to have conducted their relations on the assumption that the miller’s flour could be used by the baker. The miller relied on that assumption to its detriment by continuing to supply flour until August 2022, without receiving payment from April 2022. In the circumstances, the baker was said to be estopped from contending that it was not required to pay the disputed invoices and, or alternatively, that it had suffered loss and damage on the basis of alleged defects in the flour supplied.

2. [343]

   The baker submitted that there could be no estoppel in circumstances where it was not, in fact, obliged to return the goods and nor was it paying for the orders placed. Rather, the miller was extending additional credit to the baker. They were in dispute about payments. There was no evidence from the miller that they only authorised the supply of additional flour because they relied on the baker’s actions.

3. [344]

   In Moratic Pty Ltd v Gordon (2007) 13 BPR 24,213; [2007] NSWSC 5 at [32], Brereton J set out the elements of conventional estoppel as follows:

4. [345]

   That statement of principle has been approved by the Court of Appeal on numerous occasions, including in Rydledar Pty Ltd t/as Volume Plus v Euphoric Pty Ltd (2007) 69 NSWLR 603; [2007] NSWCA 65; Franklins Pty Ltd v Metcash Trading Ltd (2009) 76 NSWLR 603; [2009] NSWCA 407 and Miller Heiman Pty Ltd v Sales Principles Pty Ltd (2017) 94 NSWLR 500; [2017] NSWCA 106.

5. [346]

   It is not necessary to decide this, given my earlier findings. Suffice to say that the evidence does not support the existence of a mutual assumption that the miller’s flour could be used by the baker. Rather, the baker received a steady stream of complaints from Mr Gironda, with which it endeavoured to deal while continuing to fill Purchase Orders placed by the baker. The elements of conventional estoppel were not established.

Orders

1. [347]

   For these reasons, I make the following orders:

   1. (1)

      Judgment for the plaintiff in the amount of $783,178 together with interest at 10% per annum calculated on daily balances of amounts unpaid.

   2. (2)

      Direct the parties within 7 days to provide a calculation of interest, preferably agreed, so that the final judgment amount may be entered.

   3. (3)

      Order the defendants to pay the plaintiff’s costs of the proceedings.

   4. (4)

      Dismiss the cross-claim with costs.