French deal for Irish

Broadway Bagels, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, which recently started selling into Spain, has now agreed a similar deal for France. Through Bord Bía, the Irish Food Board, the firm did sampling in France, then concluded a distribution deal with Lyons-based Forezia. Broadway Bagels’ co-founder, Rosie Sheehan, said its range will be launched at a French trade show in January 2011.

UB future secure

Bright Food, the Chinese company bidding to acquire United Biscuits, has vowed not to close UB’s British factories after a recent inspection of its sites. Bright Food, which runs 3,300 shops in China, is thought to be preparing to spend about £2bn to acquire UB and said 7,500 British jobs would be safe if the deal went ahead.

Dutch firm recognised

Sonneveld has become the first Dutch bakery firm to achieve an AIB (American Institute of Baking) ’Excellent’ certificate. The company was awarded the excellent rating for the AIB food safety and hygiene standard earlier this month.

Burton’s TV drive

Burton’s Foods has launched a new national TV advertising campaign for Cadbury Fingers. Amounting to a £2m spend from October to December the 60-second ad will air for an initial two weeks, followed by a further five weeks of 30- and 10-second edits.