Member Article

Foodservice wholesalers gear up for their 2020 digital marketing

Members of a foodservice buying group are better equipped to tackle their marketing and digital goals for 2020 thanks to an interactive workshop.

Fairway Foodservice held its inaugural ‘members marketing day’ to help its wholesalers understand more about social media, website content, and email campaigns.

Additional topics included strategy creation, photos, video, and search engine optimisation (SEO) to increase visibility in search results.

There were three streams of activity throughout the day, beginner, advanced and 1-2-1 support, allowing attendees to pick the most appropriate level of seminar based on their own knowledge and expertise.

Laura Foskett, marketing director at North Wales and Chester-based Harlech Foodservice, said: “It was a very useful day to sense-check where we are at with our own marketing and communications activity.

“It was also incredibly useful to get together with like-minded people and share stories and experiences about what has worked well.

Toby Jordan, marketing strategist at Fairway Foodservice, said: “Our ethos at Fairway is to support our members wherever possible. We know that digital marketing can be an area that either mystifies people, causes uncertainty, or a refresher is needed because it moves so quickly.

“The feedback has been very positive and it’s going to be exciting to watch our members take their learnings back to the office and implement them for 2020.”

The all-day event, which Fairway plan to hold again in 2021, was held at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham.

Pascal Fintoni attended the workshop as one of three instructors delivering sessions on the day.

He said: “Those attending really appreciated the practical and down to earth approach of the sessions.

“Fairway expressed that they felt it exceeded expectations and I would advise anyone moving forward to never forget the internet is a special gift where you can communicate your unique story. Be yourself.”

Fairway Foodservice is a buying and marketing organisation, which operates on behalf of 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 £801.5m in 2019.

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