The Wholesale Big 30’s very different two newcomers

This year sees two new entries to the Big 30 list in the shape of Hunt’s Food Group and Global Foods.

They are two very different businesses in terms of their operating model and customer base, but the thing they have in common is what helped them make our latest ranking: they have both had sensationally strong trading in the past financial year.

Dorset-based Hunt’s becomes the second member of the Caterforce buying group to make the Big 30, joining Castell Howell.

The delivered foodservice specialist comes in at 29, having increased turnover by 39.4% to £107m in the year to 31 March 2022. With pre-tax profits soaring by 147.6% to £4.2m, it delivered a profit margin of 3.9%.

The fourth-generation family business started with a farm in 1912 before expanding into selling milk in the 1920s and frozen food in 1950. It is continuing to diversify, and last September set up a new operation in Nottingham specialising in vitamins, minerals and supplements.

Hunt’s is now planning to start wholesaling from the Nottingham site in October this year as part of plans to grow sales by 15%.

By contrast, Cardiff-based Global Foods is a real all-rounder, offering cash & carry and delivered services to a host of retail, foodservice and on-trade customers. It breaks into the ranking as the 30th biggest wholesaler, on the back of a 26.6% increase in sales to £103m for the year to April 2022.

Global Foods also recorded soaring profits, with pre-tax profits up 111.7% to £2.2m. The Unitas member’s inclusion means that for the first time in the history of the Big 30, all of the wholesalers listed have turnovers above £100m.

Global traces its roots back to the opening of a convenience store in 1964. The owners then moved into catering supplies in the 1970s before opening a 50,000 sq ft depot in Cardiff in 1987. Global employs more than 100 staff and serves 5,000 customers with more than 20,000 products. Specialities include importing its own frozen food such as seafood, chicken, lamb and mutton as well as spices from around the world.

Dropping off our list was Hyperama and Time Wholesale Services. Hyperama exited the sector having sold two of its three depots to fellow Big 30 member Dhamecha Foods and one to Holland Bazaar. Owner Marcus Singh is now focusing on his JK Foods East Asian food distribution business.

Time Wholesale Services was just bubbling under the Big 30 this year, and has ambitious growth targets that could well see it make a return in the near future.