Hugh Jackman and Steve Wynn Help Expand Aussie Brands in America

Australians have been enjoying Pie Face bakery cafes since 2003. There are now 75 locations dotted along the continent’s eastern coastline.

It currently has a single store in the U.S., located in New York next to David Letterman's NYC home at the Ed Sullivan Theater just north of Times Square (hence its tagline, "From Bondi Beach to Broadway").

But don’t worry, Americans, your days of living without Pie Face's version of the humble Australia meat pie may be soon coming to an end.

Steve Wynn, the founder and CEO of Wynn Resorts who has been in the biz since 1963 when he took over his family’s Maryland bingo parlor, is investing $15 million into Pie Face to help the brand expand.

“Having met the Pie Face USA management team recently and having visited their first store in New York, I came to the conclusion that they were bright people with a bright concept,” Wynn stated. “I look forward to backing them as they expand throughout Manhattan and across the United States.”

Another Australian brand, Balance Water, is also getting an infusion of cash to help it expand out of specialty stores into more mainstream retail outlets, according to a press release.

The idea behind the "non-flavored functional beverage" is to infuse different wild harvested Australian flowers into its products, which are “similar in function and benefit to certain herbal teas, though without any flavor.”

Balance also boasts its own celebrity investor: Actor Hugh Jackman has been been a backer since the early going and he has been joined in this round of financing by Emil Capital Partners and Thomas H. Lee. (At least if these guys ever take a bath, they’ll get to do it in flower-infused water.)

Balance is bottled locally in California, New York, Sydney, Australia and, as of next month, in Cologne, Germany. Its product lines are grouped as Mind, Relax, Refresh, Digest and Travel.

"We've worked hard over several years to build a solid, healthy brand foundation,” stated cofounder Martin Chalk. “We are now seeing a loyal customer following and strong repeat sales."

[Pie Face image via]