UK – Italian multinational manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery product Ferrero is merging its UK biscuit businesses to form one single entity.
Burton’s Biscuits Co. and Fox Biscuits both of which were acquired by Ferrero in 2020 and 2021 respectively will now become Fox’s Burton’s Companies (FBC) UK.
The newly created biscuit giant will be led by Simon Browne, who was previously MD of Burton’s Biscuits.
Browne said after “many years of looking at one another, we are excited about bringing together two businesses that share the same passion for crafting British biscuits with care, quality and innovation”.
Both Fox’s and Burton’s had “a strong history and heritage in the British biscuit market going back to 1853 and producing some of the most iconic brands that are firm family favourites”, said the new business.
In a statement, FBC said that the integration brought with it “a significant opportunity to further build on the success of the two companies through distribution and expansion into new markets and within new category segments”.
The business further revealed that it planned to now launch a “strategic review” to “determine the details behind the transition”.
The acquisitions of Fox’s and Burton’s made Ferrero the third-largest biscuit manufacturer in the UK, behind Mondelez and Pladis.
Fox’s sales grew £1.3m (US$1.71 million) (1.7%) to £76.1m (US$99.82 million) over the 52 weeks to 11 September 2021.
Burton’s brand Maryland was down 0.7% to £39m (US$51 million), although its Jammie Dodgers brand grew 3.1% to £19.8m (US$25.97 million) [NielsenIQ].
Ferrero recalls Kinder Surprise Eggs
Meanwhile, Ferrero has recalled Kinder Surprise eggs after a link to salmonella and a number of children falling ill, the UK Food Standards Agency has said.
The salmonella outbreak has affected a number of other countries in Europe including Ireland, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands, according to the Food Safety Network.
Parent company Ferrero is advising people not to eat some batches of the chocolate egg and to return them.
Earlier Ferrero announced it has joined the list of international companies pulling out of Russia – and has made a donation of one million euros to UNICEF to help children and families in Ukraine.
The financial donation will go towards providing clean water, blankets, basic medical care, personal hygiene kits and physical and mental health assistance to Ukrainian families.
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