_________________________________________________________________________________________ Woods
Foodservice distributor went bankrupt in the early part of the pandemic . At this time , we didn ’ t have a fresh produce offering and they overlapped significantly with us in the fine dining sector , sharing many of the same customers . They were also located about five miles down the road . We approached our shared customers and invested £ 1 million in a new warehouse two doors down from our original . We hired many of their staff at great expense because they were unable to be furloughed . It involved huge costs ; it was a gamble , but ultimately it paid off . When the lockdowns ended , our growth was phenomenal .
“ Not only did we win back our own customers , but we also won many customers from the wholesalers that decided to close . The customers who came to us during the pandemic have stayed with us . This meant that coming out of Covid was almost more challenging because we were growing at around 98 percent . This can be difficult to manage for a highly operational business like ours . As a result , I had to immerse myself in the operational side of the business , helping out on the shop floor as needed . We had to completely restructure because we had doubled in size within a year .”
Expanding capabilities
Darren goes on to reflect on how the company ’ s range of products has evolved and the benefits this has brought to the business : “ When I took over , we were a dry goods supplier , predominantly providing ambient products . Around ten years ago , we added dairy to our range , which now represents about 30 percent of our turnover and is our fastest-growing sector . At this time , we also added a range of frozen products , including high-end pastries , fruit purees , luxury chips , and desserts . More recently , we added fresh foodchainmagazine . com 91