== Subway on a roll ==
Subway is on track to open 600 new stores in the UK and Ireland by 2010, with 22 shops opening their doors so far this year. The sandwich chain now has 1,400 stores, around 100 of which are in Ireland, and has announced it will need 7,000 full- and part-time staff to fill the new posts.
== Tchibo sells stores ==
German coffee chain and kitchenware business Tchibo will close its 100 coffee shop concessions in Sainsbury’s and Somerfield this year. It has also put the leases of its 51 standalone UK outlets up for sale, as the weak economy and the low value of sterling against the euro has forced the company to pull out of the UK.
== Continental cousins ==
Ingredients developer Ulrick & Short is developing a network of distribution partners in Europe that it hopes will push export sales up to 18% of total sales by 2013. It aims to link up with more partners who have a network of contacts in bakery.
== Ukraine gas price up ==
The increasing price of natural gas in the Ukraine could result in bread costing 5% more to produce there, according to the Ukrainian Agricultural Confederacy (UAC). A recent report stated that natural gas makes up around 7-8% of the cost of producing bread, but this looks set to rise to around 10%.
== Malta helps bakers ==
The Maltese government is helping bakers keep the cost of their loaves down by co-financing the purchase of equipment, publicity and marketing. Bakers’ Cooperative president Ray Briffa told The Malta Independent newspaper that government would provide as much aid as possible, but due to EU regulations, none of the aid can be made up of subsidies.
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