Fairway Foodservice held its Meet the Member event, with a record number of deals concluded over the two days. The £904,000 worth of deals smashes the previous record of £740,000 in March 2016.
The bi-annual event, held at Birmingham’s Villa Park, gives Fairway members an opportunity to share information on the foodservice industry and talk to suppliers about their product lines.
Fairway’s chief executive Chris Binge, said: “It’s superb to break the record. The fact that more than £900,000 of deals were concluded illustrates how important our Meet the Member events are.”
Suppliers ranged from multinational companies such as Tetley and Kellogg’s to successful British businesses, including the UK’s largest independent chocolate supplier, HB Ingredients.
A to Z Catering’s managing director Hifsi Ayrancioglu, whose company joined the buying group in November 2016, also experienced his first taste of a Fairway Meet the Member event.
“It was different to other events I have been to, and what I really liked about this one was getting to meet each supplier and have a one-on-one conversation with them about their products and services,” Ayrancioglu noted.
Tracey Hughes, foodservice account manager at HB Ingredients, said: “The day was the successful in terms of business gained on the day, which was a huge result for us, but also the investment from members looking at NPD and innovation going forward.”
Stuart Dawber, business manager at Tetley GB, said: “Tea is constantly evolving and Fairway’s events give us the opportunity to meet with wholesalers to discuss latest trends in tea in the foodservice environment, the opportunities to grow sales, and how we can work in partnership to make this happen”.
