5 minutes with… Gary Mullineux
We caught up with Caterforce’s managing director ahead of the buying group’s conference in November to find out more about the event, the membership, Caterforce’s approach and future focus
WN: It’s not long until your conference; can you tell us anything about it?
The Caterforce conference is such a fantastic experience from start to finish and this year, it’s taking place at Wembley and promises to be bigger and better than ever. We will be sharing our plans for the future, including our latest innovations with own brand, AI, ecommerce, digital marketing and IT solutions, as well as how we will be supporting suppliers to grow their brands. However, what makes the event really special is the opportunity to shine the spotlight on the true brilliance of our members.
This year, our charity partner is the Burnt Chef project – a charity that supports hospitality professionals with their mental health. At a time when hospitality is facing more pressures than ever before, we want to support those working in the sector, so we are delighted to be partnering with them.
WN: Tell us more about your members…
Where to start…? It really is our members that make Caterforce the success that it is. We have nine ambitious, innovative, future-focused wholesalers, all passionate about driving growth and adding value into the marketplace. They all have their own areas of expertise coupled with strong family values and long-established regional heritage and, due to their geographical reach, they work as colleagues, not competitors. As a group, we genuinely are open and transparent about what works well, we share best practice right across the group both to learn and to pass on knowledge. This collaborative approach not only benefits each member individually but as a group it gives us the competitive edge.
WN: Is it this collaborative approach that makes Caterforce stand out?
I don’t mind admitting that we are incredibly selective about those we have in the group and yes, having nine of the biggest and best-quality foodservice wholesalers in the UK working together to drive us forward is what makes Caterforce so special.
But it’s not just our way of working that makes us stand out as different in the sector. By leveraging the scale and reach of our members, we have full national coverage and are the lowest cost-to-serve route to market, way ahead of our foodservice rivals and, at a time when value has never been more important up and down the supply chain, that’s definitely something worth shouting about.
WN: What does the future look like for Caterforce?
What is essential is that we don’t stand still, so we continually look at how we, as a group, can innovate and evolve to ensure we continue to offer the best possible service to both supplier partners and our members.
We’re doing this in a number of ways, including how we use our data. We have focused on optimising and enhancing the data we have to ensure it is the most accurate and up-to-date information so we can make the right decisions and provide benefits for supplier growth.
We have invested in our team to ensure we have in-depth experience of the independent food market to support suppliers in order for them to grow and explore the opportunities on offer through the group. Our digital marketing remains a success, providing touchpoints across all members at the same time, which we know is a priority for supplier activation.
We have also invested heavily in IT solutions to improve operational excellence and complete our data ecosystem. We’ll share more about this once it’s live, so watch this space…
buying group Caterforce conference data Foodservice Members
