Member Article

Fairway Foodservice cements its reputation for high-quality own brand products at trade show

Fairway Foodservice demonstrated the high quality of its extensive own brand products at its first trade show dedicated to the range.

Watch a video of the event here: https://vimeo.com/193057861/9a40c3b8ee

Almost 100 sales and purchasing managers from the 18 Fairway members were given the opportunity to see and taste selected Fairway products and compare them with competitors’ versions.

The event, at Villa Park, Birmingham, also gave the attendees chance to learn more about the range and increase their confidence when selling the products to their customers.

The trade show was free for members and the 24 suppliers.

And Fairway chief executive Chris Binge was thrilled with the feedback received from members and suppliers throughout the day.

“Our main objective was to build even greater confidence in Fairway’s own brand range,” he said.

“The positive responses and comments from everyone in attendance illustrates we achieved our goal.

“We are proud of the high-quality products we offer our members in our own brand range. Every product goes through a rigorous benchmarking process to ensure it is as good as, if not better, than the leading brand.

“It’s been fantastic to prove that with the taste tests and other comparison activities today.”

Fairway, which has more than 570 products in its own brand range, funded the event as part of its added value for members.

Teresa Whyte, company sales manager at Total Foodservice, said: “It was a very worthwhile day. Our team consists of sales staff who have been with us a few years as well as just a few weeks and months. The level of information available was brilliant.

“I was impressed with the benchmarking exercises, and was amazed at the quality of the Fairway products compared to its competitors’.

“And it’s good that Fairway was there and playing a prominent role on the day. It’s not just a Fairway name or brand; It’s the whole package.”

Charles Allen-Muncey, managing director at Peakhouse Foods, which supplies Fairway’s own brand quiches and apple pies, said: “It was a very useful event. It’s been a huge benefit speaking directly to the sales teams and spending time with them. To have their representatives’ attention for as long as we did provided quality time to see and taste the products they are going to be selling.

“The Fairway own brand range is one we have supported for a number of years now. The group as a whole is very loyal to the own brand range and it’s something we are very keen to be involved with.”

Fairway Foodservice is a buying and marketing organisation, which operates on behalf of 18 wholesalers based in the UK, Ireland and Spain. Founded in 1984 by five frozen food wholesale distribution companies, it has grown from a collective turnover of £7m in 1984 to £626m in 2016.

Alongside access to Fairway Foodservice’s extensive range of products, members benefit from collective buying power on a number of lines, significant marketing support and subscription discounts to the Erudus One product specification database.

For more information on Fairway Foodservice, follow the group on Twitter @fairwayfood or visit www.fairwayfoodservice.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Harris .