Welcome to the January issue of Wholesale Manager. The Government must introduce tougher punishments on retailers in order to tackle underage vaping and curb illicit vape sales, according to a new study of almost 6,000 members of the public. More than half of those polled dismissed the Government’s plans to introduce £200 on-the-spot fines for shopkeepers caught illegally selling vapes to children as too lenient, with almost two thirds saying the fine is too low.
Bestway Retail has announced the removal of the fuel levy charge (previously at £3.66 per delivery) for all mainland Costcutter stores for deliveries made on, or after, Wednesday 1st January 2025. In addition to lifting the fuel levy charge, Bestway has also led the market in announcing an impressive investment of more than £2.5 million to reduce the cost price of more than 11,000 best-selling branded products across all categories.
After welcoming five new members into the Country Range Group in 2024, CRG has kicked off 2025 in a similar positive fashion after Valley Foods were announced as its latest foodservice wholesale member. The arrival of Valley Foods means the Group now consists of 15 member businesses and 17 wholesalers, who together cover the whole of the UK, Ireland, coastal Spain and Jersey.
WestCountry is the oldest and largest specialist wholesaler of fresh produce in the southwest. From humble beginnings provisioning ships in the port of Falmouth, the business has grown progressively over recent decades adding product ranges to complement its core fresh produce heritage and meet the ever-evolving needs of its customers. In a Focus on Foodservice interview, James Russell, Managing Director at WestCountry, tells Wholesale Manager what the impact of WestCountry’s merger with MJ Baker will be and what benefits the business gets from being a member of Country Range.
National Buying Consortium is an innovative buying group, working together to source the best deals, prices and products for independent wholesalers in the FMCG market. It is first and foremost a member-owned company and is dedicated to working transparently with members and suppliers to grow each others’ businesses with a collaborative and unified approach to trading. Managing Director David Lunt tells our Who’s Who in Wholesaling page what he wants to achieve in the role and how the wholesale industry has changed in recent years.
Sweet Biscuit sales are a £0.5 billion sales opportunity for wholesalers and their customers. Wholesale Manager went to Parfetts’ Birmingham depot to ask Charlotte Prain, Senior Category Development Manager, pladis UK&I, Tom Walton, Category Manager for Confectionery & Grocery, Parfetts and Lee Bingham, Head of Wholesale, pladis UK&I for some insights into the category.
Enjoy reading the issue.
George Simpson
Group Editor
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