Yorkshire’s favourite bakery – which was founded in 1885 in Scarborough – has been purchased in a huge acquisition, with ASDA owners Zuber and Mohsin Issa’s EG Group taking the bakery under its huge umbrella of brands.
Acquiring ASDA from Walmart just last year, the billionaire brothers also own Leon and act as franchisee for 145 KFC outlets in the UK and Ireland. The EG Group also operates hundreds of petrol stations and fast food outlets across the entirety of Europe, with their newest food acquisitions helping the business to diversify away from the petrol business.
In addition to diversifying the EG Group’s umbrella offering, the acquisition will also provide further opportunity to the Cooplands brand, allowing it to rival bakery giant Gregg’s on a more national level.
A statement released by EG Group said: “Today’s transaction will provide a platform to diversify the Cooplands brand into the transient petrol forecourt and retail convenience store channel, alongside the bakery chain’s traditional store formats, through EG Group’s extensive UK network.
“The acquisition of Cooplands as a proprietary brand follows EG Group’s acquisition of LEON, the British ‘naturally fast food’ restaurant chain, in May 2021.
“These two brands complement EG Group’s extensive food service brand portfolio, including popular third-party brands such as Starbucks, KFC and Subway.
“EG Group plans to invest in the Cooplands brand and fresh food offer, to help ensure it continues to satisfy existing customers and attract new ones.”
Zuber and Mohsin Issa, Founders and Co-CEOs of EG Group, said: “The transaction will broaden the reach of Cooplands beyond the brand’s northern heartlands and bring its much-loved food to more existing and new customers through EG Group’s unparalleled network of roadside forecourts and retail convenience stores.
“We know that Cooplands’ impressive bakery platform and our food service expertise will be a winning combination.”
Belinda Youngs, CEO of Cooplands, said: “Cooplands is proud to be joining EG Group and bringing our long history of skills and expertise in the bakery industry in both manufacturing and retail to the company. We are looking forward to a great future for the Cooplands brand.”
Fans of the beloved Yorkshire-born bakery can expect to gradually see the brand in petrol stations, service stations, and even outside of Yorkshire and the North East, with huge expansion plans in store.
[Featured image: Cooplands Bakery]
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