Burton’s Biscuit Co. has signed a licencing agreement with Dairy Crest brand Cathedral City in a deal that will mark the UK biscuit group’s first foray into the savoury snacks market.
The deal will see Burton’s produce Cathedral City Baked Bites: a range of baked savoury biscuit snacks, made with Cathedral City cheddar. The deal, Burton’s said, will enable it to establish “a beacon brand” in the fragmented savoury biscuits market, currently worth GBP500m (US$807.9m).
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with such a well-known and fast growing brand as Cathedral City and plan to leverage our proven expertise in innovation and our comprehensive operational infrastructure to build a strong, sustainable savoury biscuit range under the Cathedral City brand,” said Burton’s chief marketing officer, Stuart Wilson.
“We are developing a unique, high quality proposition that will take Cathedral City outside of the dairy category and into savoury snacking biscuits.”
With the Cathedral City brand worth around GBP257m, according to Nielsen data, and a household penetration of 55%, Burton’s is hoping the partnership will deliver a “credible, market leading proposition with an authentic cheddar delivery outside of the chiller”.
Burton’s has invested around GBP1m in new savoury capability in its South Wales factory to ensure it has the appropriate long-term infrastructure in place to support the manufacturing of the new biscuits.
