Major change to bagels leaving hungry fans furious
BAGEL lovers are cheesed off because the hole in the ring-shaped roll has got bigger.
Penny-pinching makers have cut the amount of bread in each — and increased the gap in the middle.
The New York Bakery Co has cut its supermarket bagels from 90g each to 85g but their price remains the same.
The bagel’s diameter has not changed but the gap in the middle is now larger.
Customers are also complaining that their favourite fillings spill out more.
Bagel fan John Small, 44, fumed: “Too much cream cheese squeezes out now. Sure, a bit coming out is part of the theatre of eating a salmon and cream cheese bagel.
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“But you don’t want half the cheese and capers coming out.”
John, from Elstow, Beds, added: “My dad made a cheese and tomato one — and he lost two cherry tomatoes.”
The New York Bakery Co is the biggest producer of bagels in the UK, and sells about 320million a year here. As well as selling to consumers via supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, it distributes them wholesale to cafés, restaurants, hotels and food stalls.
A pack of five currently costs £1.90 at Tesco. Each 85g bagel’s hole diameter is 3cm to 4.5cm, which works out at an average of 3.75cm.
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The pack cost the same price when each weighed 90g and the hole diameter was 2.5cm to 4cm — or an average of 3.25cm.
A New York Bakery Co spokesperson said: “The quality of our bagels is always the top priority for us, and that means sourcing the finest ingredients at all times.
“Ongoing inflationary costs have meant we have needed to slightly reduce the size of our bagels from 90g to 85g.
“This change came into effect in April, and it has been done in a way that ensures there has been no compromise on quality or taste for our customers.”