New York Bakery pushes for UK market increase

The firm confirmed that one in five households in the UK currently eat its bagels and said it now plans to increase this further.

The move is backed by an £11.5M infrastructural investment and a further £3M communication campaign from parent company Maple Leaf Bakery UK.

The plans will include an expansion of its factory in Rotherham which, when completed, will become the largest bagel factory in Europe, the firm claimed.

Creation of jobs​

A New York Bakery spokeswoman said it could not rule out the creation of jobs at the site but that it was too early to discuss exact figures.

Simon Foster, vice-president of marketing at Maple Leaf Bakery UK, said: “The significant backing by Maple Leaf Foods will enable us to move forward with our ambitious expansion plans in the next five to 10 years. As a result we can now increase our capacity at our Rotherham site to meet growing consumer demand and support our growth aspirations as the market leader in speciality bagels​.”

According to the New York Bakery, the bagel category is now worth £41.7M in the UK, an increase of 34% from last year. This was primarily driven by the firm’s bagels, which have seen a 66% increase in sales since its relaunch in January.

Flown off the shelves​

The firm also said that the re-launch was the “biggest value contributor​” to the Morning Goods sector this year, increasing sales by an additional £8M. Since January the New York Bakery has sold more than 110M bagels.

The increase was driven by the bagels selling faster than in previous years which, the firm said, had “literally flown off the shelves​” since the communication campaign began.

Foster added: “Our strong performance is the product of the market’s growing demand for bagels, the quality and authenticity of our product and our carefully planned relaunch this year. We are excited about increasing our sales in the UK market and are confident in our expansion plans​.”