Food and Drink Industry 23 – 28 Feb: Featuring Jones Village Bakery and Heineken
- Jones Village Bakery is nearing production at a newly built, state-of-the-art “super bakery” in Wrexham after its flagship site was devastated by fire.
- Heineken is launching Cruzcampo Sevilla Orange (3.3% ABV) in the UK, backed by a multi-million-pound marketing push running from May through summer.
A Flagship Site in Cinders – and a Bigger-Than-Before Comeback
When firefighters arrived at Jones Village Bakery’s flagship headquarters on Wrexham Industrial Estate in 2019, they found a blaze that had torn through the one-storey production area and spread into an adjoining office block.
For most manufacturers, a hit like that threatens more than a building: it puts contracts, supply commitments, and staff livelihoods at risk in one sudden, smoky afternoon.
But the Village Bakery response was immediate and decisive. Within a year, the business revealed plans for a “super bakery”, accelerating a long-term ambition and relocating the build to Ash Road, down the road from the original site.
The numbers signal intent. The new facility stretches across 140,000 sq ft – three times the size of the site that burned – and represents the kind of capacity-led investment usually reserved for businesses already enjoying stable, predictable growth.
Keeping the Ovens Hot: Turnover Up, Output Shifted, Workforce Tripled
What makes the story more than a “rebuild” headline is the operational discipline between disaster and recovery.
Despite losing its headquarters, Village Bakery reported a 2020 turnover higher than pre-fire levels, achieved by ramping production across its other three sites while the rebuild took shape.
In parallel, the investment programme reshaped the scale of the company itself. The Ash Road development helped drive headcount growth from 350 to 1,050, turning a crisis response into a step-change in manufacturing footprint and capability.
Insider reporting also frames the rebuild as part of a wider, multi-year push: since the 2019 fire, the company says it has invested £115m and created 700 jobs.
“A Phoenix From the Ashes”: Production Returns to the Fire Site
Last year brought another major marker: the company revealed a £20 million bread and rolls line would be installed at the site of the fire – a clear statement that the original footprint still matters strategically, not just sentimentally.
Now, with a new bakery poised to start production later this year, Village Bakery says a further 100 jobs are set to be created.
The CEO set an unusually human tone for a capital investment update, saying production at the fire site is due to begin in August, calling the return “a phoenix from the ashes” and describing it as an emotional moment after the “very difficult times” of August 2019, when the team “pulled together and worked hard” from minute one.
Expansion Already on the Horizon: A 70,000 sq ft Next Chapter
Just as notable as the restart is what comes after it.
The company says it has outline planning permission for a 70,000 sq ft extension to its main bakery – and the rationale is refreshingly practical: a second rolls line has only just been installed, and leadership expects it to be fully utilised by the end of the year.
The CEO’s comments underline a mindset familiar to high-performing manufacturers: pride in heritage, but an intolerance for standing still – “those roots will always be at the heart of what they do,” while stressing the business has “never been satisfied” and doesn’t plan to start now.
Heineken Doubles Down on Cruzcampo With ‘Sevilla Orange’ Innovation
While Village Bakery’s update is about bricks, steel and resilience, Heineken’s latest move is about portfolio physics: staying relevant, premium-feeling, and commercially sharp in a category where shoppers still want value.
Heineken is set to launch Cruzcampo Sevilla Orange, a 3.3% ABV lager brewed with the flavour of Seville oranges, sold in a 4x440ml can format.
Cruzcampo’s backstory is central to the brand narrative. Originally from Seville, it was first brewed in 1904, and Heineken positions the new variant as both a “natural extension” and a heritage-aligned twist – paying homage to the home city in Andalusia, famously associated with orange trees.
The UK commercial context is equally clear. Cruzcampo was purchased from Guinness in 2018, launched onto the United Kingdom market in 2023, and has since become a fixture across the on-trade, while also being widely available in UK pubs, bars and supermarkets.
Marketing Muscle and a Clear Consumer Signal: “Premium… While Still Offering Value”
Heineken isn’t treating this as a quiet line extension. The launch will be backed by the multi-million-pound ‘Choose to Cruz’ master-brand campaign, running across TV, digital, social and out-of-home media from May and throughout the summer.
Cruzcampo’s senior brand manager pointed to the consumer logic: shoppers are increasingly looking for premium lagers that deliver quality while still offering value for money – and Sevilla Orange is designed to meet evolving tastes without “compromising on taste and quality.”
In convenience and grocery channels, trade coverage also notes the product rolling out from March with a £5.80 recommended selling price for the four-pack – another indicator this is positioned as accessible premium, not a niche gimmick.
Why This Matters for Food Manufacturing and Food Production
Taken together, these updates point to two forces shaping UK food and drink production right now: operational resilience and demand-led innovation.
On the manufacturing side, the Village Bakery story is a case study in continuity planning made real. A major site loss didn’t automatically translate into lost market share – output was redistributed across other bakeries, turnover recovered, and investment scaled up rather than down.
That has implications beyond one company: it reinforces how modern food production networks increasingly depend on multi-site flexibility, rapid capacity shifts, and workforce mobilisation to protect supply commitments when disruption hits.
On the product side, Heineken’s Cruzcampo expansion shows how producers are tuning innovation pipelines to match consumer signals: lower strength, flavour-led, and value-conscious premiumisation – supported by heavyweight brand marketing to convert curiosity into repeat purchase.
With Cruzcampo holding a 2.7% share of the UK beer category and the flavoured/fruit segment growing 12.4% year-on-year, this is a strategic attempt to win share where growth is already happening, not where it used to be.
Conclusion: Two Different Plays, One Shared Direction
Jones Village Bakery is turning a 2019 fire into a defining growth chapter: a 140,000 sq ft super bakery, production returning to the fire site in August, another 100 jobs on the way, and even an expansion plan already warming up in the wings.
Heineken, meanwhile, is pushing Cruzcampo forward with Sevilla Orange – a citrus-led, lower-strength lager backed by a summer-spanning, multi-million-pound campaign designed to keep the brand culturally present and commercially competitive as flavour demand rises.
Different categories, different strategies – but the same underlying message: in the UK food and drink industry, momentum belongs to businesses that can rebuild fast, scale intelligently, and innovate in line with how people actually buy now.
News Credits:
£115M comeback sees Welsh bakery create 700 jobs post-fire
Heineken launches Cruzcampo ‘Sevilla Orange’ on UK market ahead of summer
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