Jacksons has secured a deal to supply the Co-op with own label bread from next year. The announcement comes days after ABF revealed that its Allied Bakeries unit had lost its contract to supply the retailer with branded and own label bread after failing to agree on commercial terms.
Hull-based Jacksons will start baking the Co-op’s bread range from next Spring. The arrangement also involves bakery giant Warburtons that will handle the daily deliveries through its logistic network and distribution hubs.
MD of Jacksons, Dorian Hiles, commented: “We’re really excited to be working with Co-op on this brilliant opportunity. The William Jackson Food Group, which owns Jacksons, has a long history with Co-op and is closely aligned in terms of quality and values, and it’s great to be able to build on this relationship even further.”
Meanwhile, Warburtons MD Neil Campbell stated that the firm was always looking at ways it can work with its customers to grow the bakery category. “This partnership with the Co-op will maximise our industry-leading distribution network to deliver freshly baked bakery products to its stores across the country,” he said.
Earlier this month, ABF stated that the Co-op had always been one of its “more challenging accounts” in terms of cost to serve with deliveries having to be made to thousands of convenience stores across the UK. “It is with regret that we have not been able to agree a way forward that makes financial sense and we will therefore be exiting our relationship with them in April 2021,” the firm said.
The Co-op revealed at the time that it had undertaken a competitive review of its supply arrangements, with it seeking to adapt to customer demands and tastes for new bakery products.
Commenting on the new supply arrangement, the retailer’s Director of Chilled Food and Bakery, Sinead Bell, said: “Co-op is committed to meeting our customers’ needs for great quality, delicious bread and bakery products … We look forward to deepening our relationships with Jacksons and Warburtons as we continue to find new ways to innovate and provide access to products and services, conveniently.”
Allied Bakeries lost its contract to supply Tesco with own label bread 14 months ago, resulting in a £65m write-down and nearly 200 jobs losses at a production facility in Cardiff.
