Roche Bros. Supermarkets, Wellesley, Mass. announced a deal with Finagle a Bagel to be the exclusive provider of fresh bagels for the in-store bakery departments of Roche Bros.' New England locations. Newton, Mass.-based Finagle a Bagel bakery chain has 20 locations in Massachusetts.

The company moved to a new 46,000-sq.-ft. production facility last summer where it produces fresh bagel dough for its chain of stores and boiled-and-baked bagels for wholesale accounts, including Roche Bros.' 17 stores. Finagle a Bagel delivers bagels daily to the Roche Bros. chain and merchandises the bagels in branded self-service displays.

The bagels have been selling well in the Roche Bros. stores, said Laura Trust, co-president of Finagle a Bagel. She attributes much of their success to the brand awareness of Finagle a Bagel in the Boston area.

"I think customers expect a certain quality from us," she said. "We're the only wholesaler in our area that boils and bakes by hand any more."