Prenant le biscuit
GOOD heavens, or rather tiens — c'est l'olivier de bain. Britain's noblest and most taken-over biscuit is now in the hands of the French. The previous, American, own- er, RJR Nabisco, fell to the world's biggest bid, and in the clearance sale that has followed its British food businesses have been bought as a job lot by the French group BSN. Lurking among them is the Bath Oliver. I make this the 11th takeover since Doctor Oliver of Bath invented his biscuit. In its last decades it has left Bath and wandered unhappily round the coun- try, being made first at Reading, then at Liverpool (until the new owners shut the plant), then at Bermondsey (where it tasted of Ryvita), and now at — of all places — Aintree. I warn BSN: history shows that every company that takes the Bath Oliver over is itself taken over. The French must realise that they can escape the curse only by passing the biscuit. Now is the chance for a buy-out — bring the Oliver back to Bath!
Previous page
