Tan Parsons assesses the opportunities and the challenges for wholesalers as a new generation of retailers learn to make their stores stand out by moving into foodservice.
A fresh wave of entrepreneurial retailers are now offering great quality foodservice in their shops, based around ‘food for now’ and ‘food for later’. Businesses such as Topaz and Applegreen in Ireland and Eat 17 in London are using food to build their brands and stand out from the crowd.
The merging of retail and foodservice has been going on for some time, but that process is accelerating and wholesale strategy should be aligned accordingly, says Noel Keeley, managing director of Musgrave Wholesale Partners.
In fact, such is the opportunity facing independent convenience retailers now, “this should be their finest hour,” he says. Foodservice is growing – predicted to swell by £10bn by the close of 2019 – and it offers attractive shared margins. But serving up the goods to this new breed of foodie retailer isn’t simple.
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