Buying groups: Change and challenge – Caterforce
Having secured ‘incredible growth’ during 2024, Caterforce Managing Director Gary Mullineux shares how the group is investing for the future
There is no doubt that while 2024 has brought challenges, it has been an incredible year for us as a group, and individually for our nine family run foodservice wholesale members.
Collectively, we’ve achieved incredible growth and achieved £800m turnover, which is 8% growth year-on-year, double the market performance.
Since 2019, we have grown a staggering 41% and, crucially, we want this to continue, so we have invested heavily in the central resources we provide for our members, from a new data team to upgrading our systems and processes, and improving our digital offering.
Operational excellence is crucial and we aim to deliver nothing less. Our fantastic central office team, progressive systems, bespoke customer engagement and marketing all combine to deliver growth for suppliers and members, and an outstanding proposition for members’ customers.
Our conference in November was a huge success, which saw more than 350 suppliers, members, service providers and central office staff gather at Wembley to share the successes of the previous two years, and highlight our plans for the future.
MEMBER SUCCESSES
For our members, 2024 has been a year of ambitious growth and incredible achievements. With a collective investment of more than £50m, members have invested in expansion and acquisitions, workforce, technology and fleet.
Lynas Foodservice has acquired fresh fruit and seafood family businesses in order to control the supply chain from end to end, while Q Catering has brought on board RJ Kingsland, a specialist in fresh fruit and vegetables, to provide a complete one-stop shop for customers.
Pioneer Foodservice has increased its workforce and premises, adding a new 18,000-square-foot storage depot and meat production facility to its warehouse space, while Pilgrim Foodservice opened an additional depot in Colchester to expand its reach and capabilities across the region.
Castell Howell Foods continues to go from strength to strength, and its success was recognised formally by the industry when it was crowned Regional Wholesaler of the Year 2024 at The Grocer Gold awards. The judges were impressed by its expansion into north Wales and the west of England, strategic targeting of new markets, investment into its fleet and sales force, and the addition of more than 1,000 new lines to expand its range.
Our members continue to be future focused with technology, as Lynas launched its industry-first Order Your Way, which enables customers to place orders any time, anywhere, supported by AI to deliver exceptional results and huge time savings.
LOOKING AHEAD
So what lies ahead for the group? Yet more investment in the future. Individually our members will continue to invest to futureproof their businesses with more than £60m earmarked for 2025.
Centrally we will be launching Price Hub, a single point of truth offering real-time accuracy, which looks set to be a gamechanger, while regionally, our members will be investing further in ecommerce, platforms, ERP systems, route optimisation and more. The future is digital, and we are using it to provide an even better, enhanced service to customers to ensure we remain competitive and leaders in our field.
During 2025, we will continue to deliver a customer-centric, digital-first service. We will celebrate our members’ proud independence and regional expertise while utilising our shared knowledge and uniquely collaborative approach. Our key message for 2025 is simple: we will not be standing still.
Click below to read other buying group reflections:
buying group Castell Howell Foods Caterforce Gary Mullineux Lynas Foodservice Pioneer Foodservice Q Catering
