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It ’ s been almost five years since Food Chain last caught up with Birchall Foodservice ( Birchall ). The wholesaler now stocks over 6000 different products , including more than 600 offerings from its own Country Range brand , as it continues to stand as the ultimate one-stop shop for its customers . Whether fresh fruit and vegetables , butchery , chilled goods , ambient products , cleaning supplies or alcohol , this B2B company delivers across the North of England . We ’ re sitting down with Nicola Watson , Operations Director , to find out more about its operations .
“ A lot has happened since we last spoke ,” she begins , “ but I suppose the most exciting and positive development has been the introduction of our e-commerce platform , OrderMate . Launched in 2021 , OrderMate allows our customers to order online from any device , at any time of day . They can also pay online and view live allergen and nutritional information , which simply wasn ’ t possible before .
“ Prior to its launch , our e-commerce presence was non-existent , but over the last two years , we ’ ve seen our online sales grow rapidly . As it currently stands , over 40 percent of all our orders are now taken online , and we expect this number to continue rising . Honestly , I wouldn ’ t be surprised if OrderMate accounted for half of our entire output within the next 12 months .
“ Consequently , the platform has played a big part in our recent growth ,” she adds , laying testament to Birchall beating its £ 24 million target in 2022 with an extra £ 11 million turnover . “ It ’ s allowed us to attract caterers who want to be able to browse products on an online portal , and then have the live allergen information of each of them available at their fingertips . We have also invested
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