Abe's Bagels Finds a New Home

One of the country's best-known bagel makers, Abe's was bought by George Weston Foods — one of Australasia's largest bakers and part of the ABF group — after a record sales year. It was a milestone moment for a brand that grew from small local beginnings into a business worth buying. Payper was brought in to announce the deal.

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We treated it as a business story first, briefing the country's top business and trade newsrooms ahead of the announcement and shaping an angle that worked as neatly for FMCG press as it did for mainstream media.

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The news landed across every tier that mattered. The NZ Herald, National Business Review, BusinessDesk and Stuff's The Post, The Press and Waikato Times all ran it, while Newstalk ZB carried it through its hourly bulletins and RNZ's Nine to Noon gave it airtime.

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The trade press followed, with Supermarket News, FMCG Business, Food Ticker, Inside Retail, M+AD and StopPress all covering the sale. It travelled offshore too — picked up in Australia by Inside FMCG, and in the UK by Just Food and Food Manufacture.

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In total, the announcement generated 16 stories and reached an estimated 1.5 million people — proof that a well-placed local business story can travel a very long way.