We spoke to Kate Bancroft, marketing manager at Country Range Group, to discuss how wholesalers can increase sales during festive periods.
What actions and steps do you take to capitalise on profitable periods throughout the year? Can you name examples?
“It’s imperative that we help our customers capitalise on key profitable periods throughout the year by ensuring they can keep their offering fresh, exciting and on-trend. If they are successful, so are we.”
“Every month now offers a myriad of opportunities for our customers to be imaginative with specials, new dishes and events, so creativity in the kitchen is certainly not just for Christmas. It could be Veganuary, Mother’s Day, Easter, Summer BBQs, Halloween or something else. Our job is to ensure caterers have all the tools and inspiration to make every month a profitable one. It’s about making it easier for our customers to take advantage. Whether that’s with new product launches such as our Christmas desserts or with informative literature and ideas from Stir It Up and our trend guides, it’s important our customers can stay ahead of the competition and keep their patrons happy.”
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How important is your work with suppliers during these periods? Do they advise and lead on how you should operate during specific periods?
“At the Country Range Group, we are constantly in conversation with our suppliers to find ways to make running a foodservice business easier for our customers. We’re always looking to add on-trend and on-target products to our portfolio and work very closely with our suppliers to do this. Our successful virtual business development days have been key in improving communication with suppliers and offering opportunities to new businesses that can benefit our end customers.”
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Can you name specific examples of methods you’ve tried that have had a positive effect on your business for certain months?
“To celebrate the arrival of Christmas and all the fanfare it brings, we always launch a selection of festive desserts to help our customers capitalise on the extra footfall and business. Christmas is a time of indulgence and eating the best food and drink, so our desserts are created with that in mind and feature an awesome array of festive flavours. Offering our customers festive-themed products allows them to mix up their menus and up-sell to their clientele.”
