The Grocer – 10 August 2019

news wholesale & convenience

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 10 August 2019 | The Grocer | 7

Bestway’s symbol group
Best-one is offering an
additional rebate scheme
to incentivise retailers
to stock its core product
range.
‘Core Rewards’ will
give customers the
chance to earn up to a
5% financial rebate on
top of the existing ‘My
Rewards’ rebate scheme
it currently offers.
Bestway will iden-
tify a sample of products
from its 2,000-strong core
product range to be eligi-
ble for the rebate scheme
each quarter.
In order to qualify,
retailers must purchase
75% of the Core Rewards
range, which for this
quarter consists of 232
products.
The key lines included
in the promotional range
will be selected based on
the time of year and will
include NPD.

Best-one to

offer rebate

scheme for

core products

Kitwave Wholesale

buys Central Supplies

Kitwave has made its first major acquisition since 2016

Lyndsey Cambridge

Fast-growing Kitwave

Wholesale Group is

back on the acquisition

trail having snapped

up Birmingham-based

chilled product whole-

saler Central Supplies.

The deal, for an

undisclosed fee, marks

Kitwave’s first major

acquisition since it

bought on-trade alcohol

wholesaler HB Clark in

2016.

Kitwave said the deal

for Central Supplies,

which has an annual

turnover of £50m, will

provide it with a wide

chilled offering to sit

alongside its existing fro-

zen operations provided

by Eden Farm Hulleys.

Central Supplies cur-

rently distributes goods

across the UK from a new

purpose-built 30,000 sq

ft warehouse, delivering

cheese, yoghurt and cold

meats.

Ben Maxted, head of

frozen and chilled oper-

ations at Kitwave, will

join the board of Central

Supplies alongside the

existing board mem-

bers David Packham and

Sean Trow.

“We’re very pleased to

complete the investment

in Central Supplies,” said

Maxted. “The business

has a proud history of

providing a quality deliv-

ered solution to its cus-

tomers and this ethos is

a key part of the Kitwave

Group. Central Supplies

will continue to run as an

independent business,

as do all of the Kitwave

businesses, and we look

forward to building the

operations further with

its loyal employees, cus-

tomers and strong sup-

plier relationships.

Sitting alongside our

nationwide frozen opera-

tions, the addition of this

chilled product offer-

ing will create exciting

opportunities.”

Central Supplies MD

David Packham said:

“This investment from

Kitwave will provide a

great platform for the

next level of growth in

the business. The senior

management and staff

at Central Supplies are

really looking forward to

working closely with the

Kitwave team over the

coming years to execute

our plans.”

Ex-Confex director David

Lunt heads up the group

Breakaway buying
group National Buying
Consortium has started
trading with its first six
members.
Following three
months of planning, the
buying group headed by
ex-Confex director David
Lunt has begun process-
ing orders with suppliers.
The six members

• Carob Enterprises,
  Hardy Brothers,
  Lansdell Soft Drinks,
  VWT Wholesalers &
  Distributors, P&P Snacks
  and Northern Citrus – are
  all former Confex whole-
  salers and have become

‘Strong first month’ in trading

at National Buying Consortium

NBC shareholders.

The new group claims

to have commitments

from a further 20 Confex

wholesalers that they

will join NBC once they

have served out their

notice periods at Confex.

These include Ozdil UK,

which is understood to be

one of Confex’s biggest

members.

Lunt told The Grocer

NBC had purchased a

new office in Chipping

Norton, with four mem-

bers of staff now work-

ing there. It has provided

members with a promo-

tional booklet, which it

said was tailored to each

wholesaler.

A new website is sched-

uled to go live in the

coming weeks, offering

members the opportunity

to work with an app pro-

vider to develop an order-

ing platform.

Leading independ-

ent retailer Thornton’s

Budgens has ramped up

its vegan offering as part

of its ongoing mission to

reduce its environmental

impact.

The store, owned by

Andrew Thornton, has

added hundreds of vegan

lines over the past few

months and now has

around 800 lines, which

are clearly signposted as

vegan, throughout differ-

ent areas of the store.

The retailer said the

focus on vegan came

about through its wider

sustainability drive,

Thornton’s Budgens

boosts vegan range

which included the intro-

duction of 2,200 plas-

tic-free lines last year.

During research for that

project it said it saw the

“impact the meat and

dairy industries had on

the environment, and

how we could help move

things in the right direc-

tion in that area of retail”.

“My view is that using

vegan products not

only has huge benefits

for our health and the

environment, but also

enriches our palate,” said

Thornton’s Budgens pro-

ject manager Nataliya

Kim.

CENTRAL PERK

This investment from Kitwave will provide a great

platform for the next level of growth in the business –

David Packham, MD, Central Supplies