Leading UK food packaging distributor realizes significant benefits across supply chain planning, demand planning and collaboration

Bunzl Catering Supplies, one of the UK’s leading distributors of catering consumables, food packaging and hygiene products, has realized significant benefits since deploying forecasting and replenishment capabilities from RELEX Solutions, supporting supply chain planning, demand planning, and cross-functional collaboration across its operations.

Part of Bunzl plc.

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England – Blackstone, America’s leading griddle brand with over 80% market share, is thrilled to announce its official entry into the UK market through an exclusive partnership with JDM Products the specialist added value Distributor based in Daventry. The launch of Blackstone BBQ Griddle in the UK opens up huge volume opportunities for retailers and outdoor cooking specialists to experience the ultimate cooking flexibility.

The heart of Blackstone's ethos is summed up in their slogan: 'Cook anything, any time, anywhere.' Blackstone griddles are designed to empower everyone to prepare a wide variety of dishes in an outdoor setting.

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Creed Foodservice, one of the UK’s leading foodservice partners to the HoReCa, Education and Care sectors, has announced Miles Roberts as its new Managing Director. Roberts, 40, who has held the role of Sales and Marketing Director at Creed for the past six years will be taking the reins from Philip de Ternant who will assume the role of Chairman within the Board of Directors. Roberts brings a wealth of experience to his new position at the national wholesaler and catering provider, garnered from senior roles at Brakes, Pepsi Co, and Sainsbury’s.

Involved in Creed’s business growth strategy over previous years.

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The ongoing success of The Country Range Group (CRG) is drawing in new members, and Waterdene Foodservice is the latest independent wholesaler to join this purchasing alliance.

Established in 1982, Waterdene Foodservice is a family-owned business located in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. Leveraging a fleet of 23 delivery vehicles, they serve a diverse network of schools, hospitals, pubs, coffee shops, garden centers, and other leisure outlets. Boasting over 3,500 product lines and employing 47 individuals, the company conducts 1,500 weekly deliveries to caterers within a 40-mile radius of Leighton Buzzard.

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The Country Range Group (CRG) has disclosed that Arthur David, a family-owned and independent wholesaler, has joined the dynamic buying group as its latest member.

Situated in Bishop Sutton, Bristol, Arthur David was established in 1962 and currently conducts more than 42,000 deliveries to caterers and chefs throughout the South West each month. The Arthur David team comprises over 435 staff members, and the business proudly involves three generations of the David family.

Starting from January 1st 2024.

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Food and beverage wholesaler, Bidfood, has unveiled a new initiative called the Open Doors Programme, designed to bolster small food and drink suppliers. Launching next month, the program will seek out and provide support to brands and suppliers endeavouring to establish themselves in the market.

The scheme was developed by SME expert and former Bidfood supplier, Andrew Allen. He will collaborate with Bidfood's technical services, buying, procurement, and marketing teams to implement a range of activities tailored to assist emerging suppliers.

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The scheme, named the Open Doors Programme, will launch next month and aim to identify and support brands and suppliers trying to establish themselves within the market.

Andrew Allen, an SME expert and former supplier to Bidfood, developed the scheme and will work with Bidfood's technical services, buying, procurement and marketing teams to create a range of activities designed to support emerging suppliers.

In addition, the programme will enable current Bidfood customers to gain access to the new suppliers and their products coming to market.

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Costco is looking to open 14 new stores across the UK over the next two years.

The wholesale warehouse chain is currently looking at locations across the country. The retailer is looking at opening warehouses in the following locations, although nothing is confirmed just yet:

Chelmsford
Colchester
Exeter
Oxford
Cambridge
Maidstone
Brighton
Portsmouth
Bournemouth / Poole
Preston
South Glasgow
South East London
Wolverhampton / North West Birmingham
South West Birmingham

The American wholesaler is already set to open a new store in Glouster - Centric Park on Eastern Avenue.

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Love Drinks has expanded its exceptional collection of high-class spirits with the addition of two delicious gins from Etsu, which have now been introduced to the hospitality sector.

These gins, part of the Ikigai Collection curated by BBC Spirits, have garnered multiple awards and were among the pioneers of Japanese gin in the market.

The Etsu duo, meaning 'pleasure' in Japanese, are produced by the Asahikawa and Akita distilleries located in Hokkaido and Honshu Island respectively. Drawing inspiration from ancestral Asian recipes.

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Thomas Ridley Foodservice has won a major new hospitality contract to supply 37 establishments in the City Pub Group portfolio.

The City Pub Group has a wide range of pubs, restaurants, and hotels in locations across the south of England including London, Bath, Norwich and Cambridge.

To service the new contract, Thomas Ridley has added 57 new lines and will support the group with ongoing menu development.

The new deal follows the acquisition of Thomas Ridley by Bidcorp in January.

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Brakes, the UK’s leading foodservice wholesaler, has today revealed it is holding prices on 1,850 own-brand frozen and ambient products until October 2023.

With food inflation running at record highs through 2022 and into 2023 impacting food business across the sector, the price holds will provide food businesses with some certainty in the coming months.

The announcement is the latest in a series of initiatives that Brakes has launched to try to support customers through the current cost of living crisis.

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Lumina Intelligence has released the Wholesale Online Report 2023, revealing key insights into the digital landscape for wholesalers and suppliers. The report indicates that the majority of online sessions are purely browsing, with 4 in 5 online users not adding anything to their baskets. This highlights an opportunity for disrupting the digital journey through push notifications and personalised ads. The report also found that retailers are more likely to browse using websites, while using apps to add items to their baskets. This presents an opportunity for targeting and engaging with retailers through app-exclusive promotions. Retailers were also found to spend more time browsing than foodservice operators.

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Whitby residents have a brand new shopping experience on their doorstep after the reopening of Stakesby’s Spar store, owned and serviced by James Hall & Co.

Following a complete refurbishment and extension which includes a Graham Eyes butchers and a Clayton Park Deli, the offering at Spar Stakesby has been transformed to support local residents.

The Mayor of Whitby Cllr Linda Wild cut the ribbon to declare the popular community SPAR and Shell service station officially reopen.

The Clayton Park Deli’s range includes everything from pizzas to salads and jacket potatoes to cream cakes.

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JJ Foodservice has been awarded contracts to supply Barnsley, Bolton and Bradford Council schools in deals totalling more than £3.5m.

The wholesaler is already working with Kirklees and Leeds Councils bringing the number of schools being supported in North England to more than 650. JJ Foodservice supplies schools with thousands of fresh, chilled, ambient and frozen goods including packaging products, 75% of which are fully compostable.

Baris Kacar, chief sales officer at JJ Foodservice, noted.

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Premium mixer brand, The London Essence Co has experienced exponential growth across the UK retail and hospitality in the last twelve months, making it the fastest growing mixer company here.

The brand’s RSV is now £15m in the UK, cementing its position as the leading challenger in the premium mixers market. London Essence has also been voted No. 2 Top Trending Mixer by the World’s Best Bars this year and No. 4 best selling mixer.

When consuming premium mixers at home, London Essence takes 5% share of the premium mixer category and has the highest ever brand awareness with a 52% increase in brand penetration within the last year and a retail sales value of £5m.

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Bill Gates has acquired a 3.76% stake in Dutch drinks giant Heineken, despite having previously said he was not a big beer drinker. He purchased 10.8 million shares, worth £779m.

Tthe billionaire founder of Microsoft purchased the shares from FEMSA, a Mexican multinational beverage and retail company headquartered in Monterrey, which is selling out of the brewing company.

The story of Heineken began in 1864, when Gerard Adriaan Heineken took over the Haystack brewery in Amsterdam. Just 22 years old.

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Ribble Valley farmhouse yoghurt producer, Ann Forshaw’s and its associated Alston Dairy has been bought by the James Hall Group of Companies.

The acquisition sees the James Hall expand its portfolio of food manufacturing businesses in the North West to five, adding Ann Forshaw’s Alston Dairy to Clayton Park Bakery, Fazila Foods, Graham Eyes Butchers, and the Great Northern Sandwich Company.

Operating within the James Hall Group of Companies will mean business as usual for Alston Dairy, located just outside Longridge.

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Brita Professional has launched of its industry-first smart filtration system. Purity C iQ is a data-driven water filter system designed for, and in partnership with, coffee professionals.

A game changer for the industry, Purity C iQ combines a filter, a filter head, and the cloud-based Brira iQ Portal to deliver accurate information on key performance parameters in real time.

Seven years in the making, Purity C iQ is more than just a filter cartridge. Using real-time data, it gives hospitality businesses full transparency on all the information they need to make smarter decisions and benefit from enhanced preventative machine maintenance.

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Chefs and hospitality businesses are responding to the challenges of the current trading environment by making the most of fresh produce and innovative dishes.

The new Fresh Food Trends Report 2023 from Bidfresh spotlights ways the sector is using high quality produce to raise its menu game and persuade cash-strapped consumers to dine out.

After a challenging 2022 involving inflation, supply issues and new legislations, the Bidfresh Group with its three specialist fresh food businesses; Campbell Brothers (catering butchers).

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The UK’s finest and largest whisky festival, The Whisky Show, is returning for its 15th year to Old Billingsgate, London for three days between 29th September and 1st October 2023.

The event features features whisky producers, demonstrations and masterclasses in the whisky world, offering opportunities to taste the finest whiskies available today.

For more information please visit https://whiskyshow.com/london/