Representing over 10% of UK wholesale, Confex has been in operation as a buying group since 1972 and spans the retail and foodservice route to market encompassing ambient, chilled, frozen, alcohol, non-food, health & beauty.
Jess Douglas, Chief Operating Officer at Confex spoke to Wholesale Manager.
How many members do you have and what is their combined turnover?
We currently have 231 members, with 14 of those having joined in the past year alone. Our group turnover is now more than £3.6bn.
What benefits do you offer members?
Not only is Confex one of the UK’s longest standing wholesale buying groups, but we are proud to offer the best value. We offer competitive terms, pricing and promotions across all product categories and we do not operate any joining or membership fees, while giving all members a share of group profits.
By joining Confex, wholesalers of any size can develop their business across all product categories with access to thousands of promotions spanning more than 200 supplier partners.
Our head office provides industry-leading support all designed to add value for our members. We have dedicated business development managers ready to help grow your business with personalised support and advice. We offer data-led market insight to help our members sell more products as well as both retail and food-to-go clubs with additional promotional funding. Members have access to product and allergen specifications as well as an image library, and we have a Central Distribution facility. We have something to offer to every type of wholesaler.
What makes your group unique?
Confex is governed by a member-led board with all profits shared according to member participation, and our extremely experienced and passionate head office team are committed to working with members and suppliers in a collaborative and commercial capacity to grow their business.
At Confex, you are in safe and experienced hands. We have provided exceptional value and head office services to all types of wholesale businesses for more than 50 years and our fantastic results speak for themselves.
Do you have an own brand range? How many products are in the range? Do you have any new extensions to the range at the moment?
Launched in 2022 to provide members with a point of difference against their competition, CORE now has more than 151 SKUs across ambient, chilled, non-food and frozen and is a £12m multi award-winning brand.
When creating CORE, our vision was to provide a range of great quality products at an affordable price point that our members can trust. The range is developed based on member and customer feedback, plus wider market research, data and insight to ensure it delivers value and quality.
There are many products in development for launch during 2024, including salt, additional canned goods and additional cleaning products.
Do you run promotions? What kind of promotional offers do you have?
We run thousands of promotions throughout the year to include all product categories. We run a powerful promotion calendar which supports our members and their customers to protect their bottom line. We also run exclusive deeper promotions for seasonal events and opportunities, and of course, there are incredible deals to be done at our trade show.
Do you provide advice and guidance for wholesalers about their core range and NPD?
Absolutely! Communication is vital for our wholesaler members and we regularly update them with communications from head office, plus our free magazine contains the latest NPD, category and range advice, plus trends, seasonal opportunities and recipe inspiration to drive profitability for our members’ customers.
Do you run events for members?
Throughout the year we hold events which bring together our members and our supplier partners which we know are invaluable for connection and networking. From our main conference, which last year was in Tenerife, to our trade show and awards in the Cotswolds, our events are free for our members to attend and we encourage all members to attend in order to maximise the opportunies offered by Confex membership. During the past year, all of our events have seen record attendance and feedback confirms how importance these events are for both members and suppliers.
What news do you have to share with us?
We have continued to grow ahead of our competitors, ending the year having achieved 11.4% growth. Both Confex trade shows and our annual overseas conference saw record attendance while we have continued to lead in technology with expansion of our Confex Accelerate and Confex Insight platforms. We have also continued to increase member dividends with group profits returned to Confex wholesalers, and the future looks incredibly bright.
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