Deals in excess of £520,000 concluded at Fairway Foodservice’s Meet the Member event

Members of buying group Fairway Foodservice met with 38 suppliers at its latest Meet the Member event.

Deals in excess of £520,000 were concluded at the two-day event held at Birmingham’s Villa Park.
27 new frozen products were selected for listing and 11 ambient lines were added to Fairway Foodservice’s own-label branded goods range, which now stands at around 600 products.

The biannual event gives the 17-member buying group an opportunity to meet suppliers and sample new product lines, as well as an opportunity to share advice and opinions with fellow professionals from the foodservice industry.

Chris Binge, chief executive of Fairway Foodservice, said: “Our Meet the Member event is a valuable event for both our members and suppliers, and provides an excellent opportunity for them to get together and do business.

“The products that suppliers brought to the event have all been well received, and the addition of 11 products to our own-label line helps us to meet the requirements of both our members and their customers.

“Business remains buoyant among our members, having recorded an 11 per cent increase in group turnover earlier in the year. Despite the poor weather in August, they’re reporting that the summer months were generally busy, which is great news.”

The event is the second Meet the Member event hosted by Fairway Foodservice in 2015, with more than £1.3m worth of deals concluded over the two meetings.

Fairway Foodservice own label range now includes the addition of gluten-free gravy granules, five rice products and single portion sugar sachets.

Fairway will hold its next Meet the Member event on the 2nd and 3rd of February 2016 and is currently inviting applications. The event organiser Richard Ellison said: “Due to the success of our 2015 events we need to raise the bar and make the next one even bigger and better.

“We have received feedback from our members and we are currently looking to rework the schedule so we can invite more suppliers to showcase their products and offer their ‘deals of the day’.”

Fairway Foodservice is a buying and marketing organization operating on behalf of wholesalers based in the UK, Ireland and Spain. Founded in 1984 by five frozen food wholesale distribution companies, it has grown from a collective turnover of £7m in 1984 to £556m in 2014.

Members benefit from access to a range of more than 600 own-label products, collective buying power on a number of lines, significant marketing support and subscription discounts to the Erudus One product specification database.

For more information on Fairway Foodservice, visit www.fairwayfoodservice.com, or follow Fairway Foodservice on Twitter @fairwayfood.