Wholesalers must use their “competitiveness, curiosity, hunger, vision and values” to succeed in a challenge economic climate, according to Dr Jason Wouhra OBE, keynote speaker at last month’s Destination 26 conference.
The event boasted a spectacular line up of wholesale sector luminaries including senior executives of Bidfood, Booker, Unitas, The Wholesale Group, Caterforce, Country Range Group and Central Co-Op.
Dr Wouhra acknowledged the tough trading conditions the sector will be navigating into 2026, but said: “The wholesale sector is full of entrepreneurial family businesses which aim to succeed despite fierce competition from larger, more powerful corporate competitors.
“They win by investing well in their businesses, serving their customer beyond expectations, having strong embedded values, looking after their people and developing future talent.
“Let’s harness the power of the wholesale channel and its entrepreneurial spirit and make the wholesale sector a force for good.”
Suppliers among the 150 delegates were also given a checklist for success in the wholesale channel by a panel consisting of Unitas MD John Kinney, Country Range Group MD Martin Ward, Henderson’s Mark Stewart-Maunder and Kirsty Cooper, Trading Director at Creed Foodservice:
- Take the time to understand the sector and you will see the opportunity and the level of growth that can be achieved.
- Break the reliance on Teams and Zoom and get your teams back into the wholesale environment. Go and see wholesalers, get to know us so we can work together more effectively.
- The basis of brilliant collaboration is your service – we need deliveries on time and in full, and if that’s not possible, we need to know well in advance.
- We want to get your brands into the hands of consumers, so help us to do this. Embrace the wholesale channel, and it will deliver for you.
Other presenters included Debbie Robinson of Central Co-Op, Bidcorp’s Andrew Selley, Tom Gittins, MD of the newly-formed Wholesale Group, and TWC’s Tanya Pepin.
Organised by Clare Bocking of Immediate Impact with the support of Cirkle PR, the Destination conferences have raised over £100,000 for MAG, The Mines Advisory Group, which returns land to communities in former warzones by removing unexploded bombs and landmines.
Many of the event’s presenters and panellists are regular participants in an annual cycle challenge which has so far raised over £1.3m for MAG. For its 10th Anniversary, the group will be cycling across Tanzania from Kilimanjaro to the Ngorongoro Conservation in July this year. You can support the fundraising here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/tanzania-cycle-challenge-2025
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