Paul Hill visited Torbay to see how Caterfood (SW) has maintained growth since its formation in the 1970s
What does your customer base and product range entail?
We’re an independently run foodservice company with a heritage in frozen food, catering and distribution and cover all of Devon, Cornwall, south-west England and Wales.
In terms of our product range, we supply fresh, chilled, frozen and ambient foods as well non-food supplies for the wholesale catering industry. One of our USPs is that we can essentially sell anything and consistently partner with local businesses – butchers, cider farms, beer producers and so on – to get their products out in the local area.
Our range is about 60% ambient, chilled and non-food consumables, and 40% frozen, but this figure changes depending on the season. It has also evolved over the years as we’ve expanded into new sectors. However, some of our focal-point lines will continue to be in frozen, such as chips and baguettes.
What customer frameworks do you have in place?
We offer deliveries six days a week with no minimum order, and we take these the night before. However, in the Torbay area, we offer chefs a same-day delivery service. We’re currently going through a digital upgrade that will include a new ordering platform and online B2B shop. The plan is for this to be launched in the first quarter of 2025, and we’re doing it through a Bidcorp-owned software company called QNetex.
What are your future plans?
We are very hospitality-led due to being in south-west England, and this means we’re very seasonal, so to flatten the curve we are trying to grow in new markets such as the cost sector and education, as well as hospitals and care homes.
We’ve had to invest in new units as we’ve grown and added different divisions, but it gets to the point when it’s a chicken-and-egg situation, and we must ask if certain growth areas are worth the operational investment.
Nevertheless, we continue to look for opportunities, and a good example is Tamar Valley Ice Cream (now known as Yard Farm Ice Cream). This business now sits under Bidfood, but was originally bought by our grandfather in 2008, around the time of the financial crisis when banks were reluctant to lend money, so he made the deal with an old-school handshake with the owner.
How has the Bidcorp acquisition helped you grow?
Bidcorp purchased us in 2016, as it saw an opportunity in the south-west, and it’s been a fantastic partnership ever since. At the time, our grandfather, the original Caterfood owner, had just passed away, and it felt like the right opportunity.
Along with South Lincs Foodservice, we were one of the first acquisitions Bidcorp made, and it’s great that we’re now part of the Caterfood Buying Group (CFBG).
The benefits of the buying group have been brilliant, with a central function structure in place as well as an own-label range that is already at 150 products. I believe the aim is to get this number to 1,000 within five years.
We’re also on a trading panel with a buyer and salesperson from each CFBG wholesaler that has a say in the development of the range.
The vision of the buying group is to achieve national coverage and not just to be known as ‘box movers’, but also to have a reputation as product experts in the field as well as providing great-quality food.
Another bonus of being owned by Bidcorp is that we have a close working relationship with local Bidfood depots.
Our product ranges may differ to theirs, but we’re able to call on each other if needed. This means we have the heritage and power of being a trusted independent wholesaler, plus the strength of Bidfood to call upon, if required.
What are the biggest challenges the business faces?
Last year’s budget, especially the National Insurance increases, has put massive pressure on us. The economic environment we’re in means biggest companies will be hit hard, but business rates will hit the smaller ones.
Costs are also going up all over the place, with customers having less money to spend.
Where do you see the business in five years’ time?
When we are in our peak trading months, we find ourselves near to capacity, so we are always on the lookout for the right opportunity for expansion. However, in our area, good-sized commercial property or land to fulfil our requirements is extremely rare.
We also have to keep our team in mind when we are making any decisions, as we have very good longevity within our workforce, and we know opportunities have to be right.
Should we not be able to find what we require locally, there is also the option to look further afield to a hub depot within our current delivery area.
Overall, we will continue to expand and grow over the coming years to continue Caterfood’s proud history.
