Morrisons equals the UK’s 11th biggest wholesaler merging grocery and hospitality

With wholesale sales growing by 15.6% in the past 12 months to £902m, according to the latest Wholesale Market report from Lumina Intelligence, it would rank number 11 on this year’s Big 30.

And it’s not done there. It could soon hit its expressed target of £1bn in wholesale sales, which would likely be enough to put it in the top 10 UK wholesalers. And that’s before the MFG contract it may secure via its acquisition by CD&R.

Key to Morrisons’ wholesale success has been its supply deals with McColl’s and Amazon. Both were ramped up last year. Morrisons is now supplying all 1,200 McColl’s stores including the final 230, which came over from Nisa early last year. The tie-up has also changed significantly, with plans for a rapid conversion programme from McColl’s to Morrisons Daily. There are currently over 100 Morrisons Dailys in the estate but McColl’s has vowed to grow this to 450 by November.

In terms of Amazon, Morrisons products are now sold in its growing number of Just Walk Out stores, while the Morrisons on Amazon home delivery service has expanded to over 60 towns and covers 60% of the population, mainly around towns and cities.

Morrisons is also active in supplying the forecourt sector with tie-ups with Harvest, MPK and Rontec. Last year it added Highland Fuels, Gardner Garages and Platinum Retail. It also agreed several new supply and bulk delivery arrangements, including with Unitas and Blakemore.

However, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. In June, Morrisons had to close accounts with around 10 independent retailers, citing the shortage of HGV drivers. At the time it alluded to a new plan for independent retailers that seems to revolve around offering Morrisons Daily to independent retailers. The first indie to sign up is Harj Dhasee, whose conversion is set to open this month. Morrisons says it is in talks with others and wants to hear from interested parties.

But it’s not just grocery wholesalers Morrisons is looking to go head to head with. It is also dipping its toes in the hospitality sector. In September it reached an agreement with StarStock to sell 1,500 lines into the on-trade. Morrisons said it was “excited to be serving pubs, restaurants and hotels across the country through our wholesale business”.