Forrest Fresh Foods transfers c-store supply to North West Wholesale

Forrest Fresh Foods has agreed to transfer the supply of 1,000 convenience stores to fellow Sugro member North West Wholesale.

Forrest said the move to close its retail division after 15 years would enable it to focus on fast-growing central distribution partnerships with manufacturers and the launch of its own label range in 2022.

Forrest commercial director Mark Craven confirmed it would be supporting North West Wholesale with access to stock in “order to make the transition run as smoothly as possible”.

Any new customer enquiries that fall into the “smaller customer remit” Forrest receives will now be passed to North West Wholesale.

“We are thrilled about this collaboration as we know it will be best suited to our customers and beneficial for both companies,” said Craven. “We would like to wish the team at North West Wholesale every success for the future.

“Most importantly we would like to thank all of our amazing customers for their ongoing support over the last 15 years and we hope to see it continue at North West Wholesale.”

Sugro buying group MD Neil Turton added: “We welcome this partnership and the strengthening of ties between them.”

Craven said Forrest was on track to delivered sales of £60m for the year to April 2020, an increase of £10m on the previous 12 months.

He attributed the jump in sales to “major growth” in overseas, discount and national wholesale channels. It has also seen its direct to consumer division megaretailer.com reach “new heights” by giving consumers the option to purchase single units.