Fairway Foodservice has revealed that its members increased their collective turnover past the £800m mark for the year-end 2018.
It continues a remarkable trend for the buying group, with its turnover increasing year-on-year since 1995, when it was £66m.
The group said that majority of its 20 members experienced growth in the last 12 months, to support the 12% rise from £715m to £801.5m.
Chief Executive Chris Binge said: “Hard work, focusing on quality products and quality service gets its reward for our members who have experienced growth of 12% in a challenging environment.
“Our wholesalers work very hard to meet the ever-increasing demands of caterers by delivering quality products at the right time at competitive prices.”
Fairway has recently been working to enhance its digital marketing support for members to help facilitate further growth.
“We constantly seek to improve and enhance our support and have recognised that integrating digital into their operations will play a crucial role in continuing to win and retain customers,” said Binge
“As a buying group we have revamped our branding and website, and will soon be launching an app, all of which will benefit the members and their customers. In addition, we will work closely with members to help them make best use of digital including producing websites on their behalf if they require one and supporting them with digital marketing content.”
Fairway has also re-launched its own-brand range, which it hopes will result in more orders for its members. Binge commented: “Our Fairway Assured range allows wholesalers to offer a product that fulfils the needs of caterers: consistent high-quality, appropriately sized cases, consideration of the usability in a professional kitchen. Our products are designed for professional caterers and this will lead to repeat orders, additional purchases, and word-of-mouth referrals.
“The new packaging that accompanies the Assured range has also had lots of positive feedback from our members, and I’m excited to see the impact this has on their sales.”
