Bara brith its Wales-based stores. Complaints were issued in the press, but the company insisted that the bread was removed because of lack of sales. A survey conducted by British supermarket chain Sainsbury's in 2006 showed that 36% of teenagers in Wales surveyed had never tried bara brith. When responses across the UK were viewed, some 85% of teenagers had never tried the traditional Welsh bread. Celebrity chef Phil Vickery cooked bara brith in Brynsiencyn, Anglesey, in 2011 for a segment on the ITV television series "This Morning". He used a traditional recipe which had been handed down to local chef Nerys
Iceland (supermarket) of larger rival Bejam in 1988. In 1993 Iceland took over the food halls of the Littlewoods department store and also acquired the French Au Gel chain. The latter move proved unsuccessful and the stores were dropped within a year. In 1996, seven stores were opened in Dublin and one in Letterkenny. They all closed down in 2005 owing to financial difficulties. The supermarket also attempted ties with British Home Stores. In May 2000, Iceland merged with Booker plc with Booker's Stuart Rose taking the role of CEO of the merged company. He left for the Arcadia Group in November