Spar wholesaler Appleby Westward is dropping 2,000 products from its range over the next year to meet “the changing convenience shopping needs of customers”.
Sales and marketing director Nick Kenworthy said the cull would enable the introduction of more Spar brand, free-from products, protein snacks, and a US confectionery range.
The announcement came at the company’s annual trade show in Exeter recently.
It was separately announced that it would be adding Spar brand products and ranges of protein and free-from products to its lower wholesale price initiative.
The wholesaler said last year’s Every Day Low Price scheme resulted in a rise of sales in milk (10%), wine (37.5%), and beer (8.5%) in the stores it covers in the South West region.
Efficiencies and cost savings enabled the company to offer an overall reduction in the cost of goods to retailers of £650,000, it said.
Managing director Mike Boardman said the added products could potentially be worth an overall saving of £600,000 to retailers.
“This new plan effectively represents an investment of £1.25m by us in the cost of goods over the last 12 months,” he said.
“Retailers need to cut back the space devoted to non-productive and declining areas and bring in new categories of Spar brand, along with protein and free-from products. Free-from is a £772m market with 20% growth and we have got to get in it. Similarly, more and more consumers are looking for protein in their diet. And Spar brand is something to be proud of - it’s margin-rich and we need to make more of it by getting more of these ranges in our stores.”
The EDLP initiative is designed to help retailers reduce prices in-store, sell more products, generate more profit and build footfall.
Leo Crawford, chief executive of Appleby Westward’s parent company the BWG Group, said he had never felt more confident and upbeat about the future of the business.
He said the performance of the company-owned stores since the acquisition of the Gilletts Callington business a year ago had been “outstanding”, while Appleby Westward’s like-for-like sales were ahead of the marketplace.
“Spar is the best partner to have, whether you are a retailer or supplier,” he said.
“The business is attracting more independent retailers, and is best placed to embrace the current changes in the convenience sector.”
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