The Wholesale Group is dedicated to supporting independent wholesalers across retail and foodservice sectors.
Jess Douglas, Managing Director of The Wholesale Group spoke to Wholesale Manager.
What makes your group unique?
The Wholesale Group remains the only buying group operating at scale across retail and foodservice markets. After a strong first 12 months, we support 230 members with a combined turnover of £4.5 billion who collectively serve nearly 350,000 customers across the UK – around 14% of the UK wholesale market.
The Wholesale Group has no membership fees and complete transparency, backed by pioneering use of technology, exclusive own brand ranges, customer marketing support, industry expertise and comprehensive data insights. In total, our members have access to more than 22,000 products.
Membership has grown in the last 12 months, but more importantly so has diversity and engagement amongst our members. In the retail sector, we have seen a 76% increase in member engagement with suppliers. In foodservice, we have 140 active members, have achieved 30% sales growth in the last 12 months, and we now have visibility on £437 million in sales out data.
Through strategic member recruitment, ESG leadership and deeper collaboration with our members and supplier partners, we have ambitious plans to reach £5 billion turnover. We have been open about our ambitions to grow 15% in retail and 10% foodservice in 2026.
Do you have an own brand range?
We continue to invest in our own brand offering including the CHEF Approved, CHEF Prestige and CLEAN Solutions ranges, offering everything from canned commodities, bakery and juices, to high quality cleaning products.
The portfolio covers 350 own brand products – recent new additions include a tempting range of 12 CHEF Approved frozen, thaw-and-serve cheesecakes, CHEF Approved and CHEF Prestige coffee products, the CORE range of fruit juices, and the CLEAN Solutions range of professional hygiene products.
Do you provide marketing services for your members?
In retail, buyers have access to Retail Bites, a digital magazine created providing industry intelligence, retail tips, and category insights. In foodservice, a similar channel aimed at caterers is called Chefs’ Insider, with easy access to articles, recipes, food calendars and a gross profit calculator.
We also support our members with their website development and digital marketing strategy through the development and execution of a bespoke comprehensive social media plan. This enables them to benefit from high level marketing expertise without having to resource this at a local level.
Do you offer support for IT systems and e-commerce?
Working closely with ShopAi, we have developed DASHAi (formerly Jake), our internal AI business intelligence solution, to support decision-making and forecasting. We want to make sure decisions at every step are made with true insights, not guesswork.
DASHAi brings together multiple datasets such as sales performance, seasonal trends, promotional activity and supplier lead times, then draws on external sources such as commodity prices, and allows any member of our team to access that data (subject to access rights).
It can easily identify patterns that would be difficult or time-consuming for any single individual to spot. Our members – not to mention supplier partners and central office – can anticipate spikes around key trading periods and use this information to make key business decisions, adjust stock levels proactively and much more.
Do you offer members guidance about their core range and NPD?
We encourage our wholesaler members to act as partners, not just distributors. In foodservice, this means supporting caterers with menu support, product knowledge and problem-solving, in addition to the supply of products. In retail, it’s about guiding customers on trends and customer demand.
This insight comes from suppliers, and making sure we’re facilitating a collaborative approach, but it also comes from the data we have available to us. Our continued investment in technology allows members to better understand seasonal trends, shape promotions and enhance forecasting, to make sure they’re selling the right products, at the right price, at the right time.
Collaboration has always been at the heart of wholesaling and buying groups have taken that to the next level, bringing together wholesaler members and suppliers within an ecosystem that remains focused on collective growth. Now, as the competitive landscape becomes more complex, technology and data are helping us all to work more closely together than ever before.
Do you run events for members?
Our very busy calendar of events includes a Development & Innovation Day with one-to-one meetings and a mini expo, as well as our annual Trade Event and awards.
We also have the Foodservice Fair, a showcase of top products, and our annual conference, a three-day international event focused on business development and networking.
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