Spring is on the horizon and we’re looking forward to a busy 2018 season on a number of different fronts. These include several operational improvements including a six day a week, Monday to Saturday delivery service to the Fort William and Lochaber area and Williamson Walkabout trade show events in both Stornoway and Fort William. Our most recent promotional brochure is also just out covering February and March.
The two trade shows are planned for Stornoway on 14th March 2018 and Fort William on 25th April and we look forward to welcoming as many customers and prospective customers as possible to these events. You can already book on to the Stornoway event at www.foodwalk.co.uk. Details for Fort William will appear here too when more information becomes available.
We will have around 40 suppliers either attending or represented at each show who together offer hundreds of products. They are a good example of the 3,000+ lines we carry overall as a foodservice business. These include craft beers, fruit and vegetables, an extensive ingredients range, coffee, cakes and premium drinks amongst others.
Plenty of samples, free hospitality and of course a goody bag should enable these trading days to be a success for everyone involved. By attending in person there will be plenty of special deals available too so please take advantage of this opportunity to come along, find out more about what we are about, grab yourself some early season bargains and establish how we can help you achieve your hospitality, catering and retail objectives.
Having experienced a record breaking year in 2017, we are also currently re-designing our internal systems to ensure picking, packing and deliveries are even more efficient and comprehensive to service our customers’ best interests. A good example of this is that customers in the Fort William and Lochaber areas will have a Monday to Saturday delivery service, six days a week starting from 12 February. We also plan to add to our fleet of modern refrigerated vans and trucks soon to ensure all orders reach you as fresh and as quickly as possible.
Our regular bi-monthly promotional brochure has just been launched covering February and March. It contains some special deals which I’m sure our 1,200+ customers from across the Highlands and Islands will appreciate. This particular publication has been produced with a distinctive local and Scottish theme championing our ongoing commitment to provenance. Salmon, yogurt, artisan soft drinks and snacks all feature strongly aside local cheeses and craft beers. You can download a copy here.
We are continuing to work closely with our recent supplier success stories namely Fentimans and Café Express who are both featured in our recent brochure. We expect increasing numbers of customers to continue to be drawn to these premium brands that offer great value and margin possibilities while delivering fantastic taste your customers are sure to enjoy.
Finally, several of our customers have in the past asked about a regular produce stock update. Over the last few weeks we have trialled a new, daily system on the Twitter social media platform which lists common products and provides a brief commentary about the current market for fruit and vegetables. This can include what’s in season, what’s eating well and any other information we feel might be of interest like price changes or availability. The overall aim is to help our customers plan, achieve best margin and deliver a high quality customer experience. Please do follow us on Twitter to ensure you get this daily update.
Thanks for reading and whether you come along to one of our trade shows in Stornoway or Fort William or engage with us for the first time this year as a new customer, I look forward to meeting and speaking to as many of you as possible during 2018.
Best wishes.
Gary Williamson
Managing Director
