New portal points producers to wholesalers
THE Scottish Wholesale Association (SWA) has created a directory to help local and regional producers connect with food and drink wholesalers that can work with them to find new routes to market.
The online portal – www.scottishwholesaledirectory.co.uk – is part of the SWA’s wider work to develop wholesale as a primary route to market for all producers, some of which have not previously engaged with the sector or considered it as a potential growth generator.
The next phase of the SWA’s ongoing Delivering Growth Through Wholesale programme – launched in 2021 to engage with producers on the opportunities provided by wholesale – the directory allows producers to search for wholesalers that best fit their needs or product offering.
The SWA also has a Wholesale Local Food Champion training programme that encourages wholesalers to appoint an individual to take responsibility for shaping the local sourcing strategy within their business.
SWA chief exec Colin Smith said: “Our new directory lists all SWA wholesale members in one convenient place and is designed to help producers and suppliers identify the wholesaler that is the ‘best fit’ for their business.
“It’s an excellent tool set up with filters to enable producers to focus on a particular product category, market sector and geographical region.
“It’s a valuable resource for producers who are ready to develop and grow their business to the next level, whether at local, regional or national level.
“This is the first time that there has been a ‘one stop shop’ directory of Scottish food and drink wholesalers and its premise is quite simple: find the wholesale distributor that fits your product category, distributes in the markets and regions that fit your brand, and offers the support to build your sales.”
