A number of wholesalers are believed to have lodged objections with the OFT to Walkers' purchase of Golden Wonder's Wotsits brand and van sales fleet. No one would go on the record this week, but wholesalers are believed to be concerned about Walkers' domination of the salty snacks sector, with a market share of more than 50%, and fear its van sales fleet could allow it to bypass the wholesale route to market. Meanwhile the new owner of the rest of Golden Wonder has lined up a chief executive to head the company, while it waits for the OFT verdict on the deal. Longulf, which plans to merge its own label bagged snacks arm Snack Factory with Golden Wonder, has told staff that Paul Monk, currently Golden Wonder's commercial director, will be chief executive of the merged company. The new company will also take the Golden Wonder name. l See p52. {{NEWS }}

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