Blakemore Food Service is rolling out catering sections to 21 Spar stores in tourist locations, offering supplies to a range of foodservice customers.
The stores, located mainly in seaside towns, are owned by Tates, the company-owned stores subsidiary of wholesaler AF Blakemore. They stretch from Anglesey in north Wales to Bridlington in Yorkshire and from Bakewell in Derbyshire to Hunstanton in Norfolk.
Products available would include bulk tins of coffee and various meal packs.
Blakemore Food Service hopes the initiative will help extend its business to customers off its normal delivery route and capture foodservice firms seeking emergency top-ups. Peter Davison, sales and marketing director for Blakemore Food Service, said the service could also be useful for individual shoppers looking to cut their weekly shopping bills. “Even Spar customers may find that bulk buying can provide your average family with a considerable saving.”
But the project is also part of a wider campaign.
Since Blakemore Food Service was set up in 1997, its traditional customers have been pubs and local authorities, but the company is also ambitious to boost its sales in the hotel and leisure industries.
It hopes the new catering offer in Spar stores will win business from these sectors.
It also aims to offer them weekly direct deliveries from its 4,000 ambient, fresh and frozen lines, with products distributed by its 45 temperature-controlled vehicles operating from its Darlaston depot in the Midlands.
Davison added: “A full promotion and marketing package would be offered to all new customers and would include specific link promotions with the local Spar for existing customers.”
Rod Addy