BWG Foods
Encyclopedia
- For the airport with the IATA code BWG in Bowling Green, KentuckyBowling Green, KentuckyBowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...
, see Bowling Green-Warren County Regional AirportBowling Green-Warren County Regional AirportBowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport is a public airport located two miles southeast of the central business district of Bowling Green, a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States. This airport is publicly owned by the City of Bowling Green and Warren County. The site was established...
.
BWG Foods Ltd is an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
wholesaler and retail grocery franchise
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
operator.
BWG is the second largest wholesaler in the Republic of Ireland in terms of sales, after Musgrave Group
Musgrave Group
The Musgrave Group is a major Irish food wholesaler, founded in Cork by the Musgrave brothers, Thomas and Stuart in 1876. Musgrave Group has become Ireland's largest grocery distributor. Today, the Group has operations in Ireland, United Kingdom and Spain. Musgrave is the largest private company in...
, with sales of over 1.7 billion euro annually. It is owned by Leo Crawford, John O'Donnell and John Clohessy.
SPAR
It is the master franchise operator for the SPARSPAR
Spar , trades from approximately 12400 stores in 34 countries worldwide and is the world's largest independent voluntary retail trading chain. Spar was founded in the Netherlands in 1932 by retailer Adriaan Van Well and now, through its affiliate organisations, operates through most European...
, SPAR Express and EUROSPAR brands in the Republic of Ireland. There are approx 450 Spar stores in ROI. Spar Ireland reported 1.67 billion euro in retail sales in 2007.
In the South-west of England BWG also own Appleby Westward Foods. This is a small regional SPAR wholesaler based in Saltash, Cornwall.
In Ireland Spar operates in-store franchises for Tim Hortons coffee, Kitsu noodles and Treehouse smoothies among others.
MACE
BWG holds the master franchise for the MaceMace (store)
Mace is a convenience store symbol group operated in the UK and Ireland. The stores are independently owned and join the group, paying a fee for marketing and branding support and purchasing their stock from the brand owner. -Great Britain:...
chain in the Republic of Ireland. Maxol
Maxol
-Republic of Ireland:*Maxol Lubricants Ltd. *Maxol Direct Ltd. *Maxol Ltd....
and Mace also have an exclusive deal that sees every Maxol owned forecourt shop branded Mace. There are approx 220 Mace stores in ROI.
Newhill, BWG's retail subsidiary owns 150 stores which are leased/rented to operators for an agreed percentage of turnover.
BWG operates distribution centres for their Spar and Mace stores in Walkinstown, Dublin and Limerick. In Sept 2010 they announced the closure of their warehouse in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, with the business transferring into Dublin.
BWG Foodservice
BWG Foodservice is a division which offers a full frozen/chill/ambient range aimed at the foodserviceFoodservice
Food Service or catering industry defines those businesses, institutions, and companies responsible for any meal prepared outside the home...
channel. The business was borne from the purchase of Tolan foodservice and the main depot is still at the same site in Galway. In 2008 BWG opened a second foodservice site on the North Road in Dublin. Both sites now also operate as Value Centre's during the day, with foodservice picking taking place after 4:30pm.
Value Centre
BWG also owns Ireland's largest Cash & Carry chain, Value Centre. They have branches in Listowel, Killarney, Cork, Clonmel, Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Nenagh, Limerick, Ennis, Galway, Castlebar, Sligo, Letterkenny, Cavan, Monaghan, Carrickmacross, Dundalk, Drogheda, Mullingar, Wicklow and North Road, Dublin.In 2008 BWG bought Mangan Bros Ltd a wholesaler based in Ennis, Co. Clare. Mangans owned 8 Cash & Carrys as well as the Mace brand west of the river Shannon. Since then BWG have been merging branches where overlaps occurred. Some Mangans sites are yet to be branded Value Centre. Value Centre offer XL Stop & Shop to its Value Centre customers as a franchise option. It is a cost effective way for retailers who are not suited to a full brand offering like Spar to get the benefits of brand membership.
History
BWG was owned by Pernod RicardPernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard is a French company that produces distilled beverages. The company's eponymous products, Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis, are both anise-flavoured liqueurs and are often referred to simply as Pernod or Ricard...
until 2002 who had acquired the business as part of Irish Distillers, and was not core to their plans. BWG was sold via a management buyout financed by Electra Partners Europe for 220m euro. The current owners bought out Electra in 2006 through a vehicle called Triode, with a value of 390m euro placed on the firm.
BWG also owned an off-licence chain in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Bargain Booze, but this was sold in 2004. It also previously owned Bellevue cash & carry in Edinburgh.
It formerly also held the Northern Ireland franchise for Mace, but in December 2003 sold its N.I. subsidiary, J&J Haslett, via a management buy out
Management buyout
A management buyout is a form of acquisition where a company's existing managers acquire a large part or all of the company.- Overview :Management buyouts are similar in all major legal aspects to any other acquisition of a company...
. Musgrave Group
Musgrave Group
The Musgrave Group is a major Irish food wholesaler, founded in Cork by the Musgrave brothers, Thomas and Stuart in 1876. Musgrave Group has become Ireland's largest grocery distributor. Today, the Group has operations in Ireland, United Kingdom and Spain. Musgrave is the largest private company in...
has since bought J&J Haslett.