Over the last month we have seen an increase in purchases from our members as they prepare to adapt their businesses in order to reopen their doors. In fact we saw a 62% increase in purchases in May compared to April.

The country has been on lockdown since the 23rd of March and now the government are taking a slow and steady approach to re-opening the economy.

When lockdown was first announced a lot of people mistakenly believed it would be a short-term measure whereas what has followed has been three months of closure so far for certain establishments. The result is that businesses have adapted and changed their focus and practices to stay relevant.

We’ve seen a continually rising interest from our members in products that can be used in takeaway as people change their business models to try and bring in some revenue.

Pubs and cafes have transformed themselves into local ‘farm’ shops in order to maintain some footfall, local bakers have sent out ‘ready to bake’ packages and more and more restaurants are turning their menu’s towards home deliveries.

We’d seen a spike in purchases on PPE items as the pandemic took hold of the country, and that continues to this day as businesses prepare for re-opening.

As well as helping to source products for re-openings and innovations we’ve been working alongside some of our members helping them to review their supply chains and menus to make sure they are as profitable as possible once they start trading again.

Sadly we’ve also had calls from new customers wanting to replace suppliers who they felt businesses had acted poorly during the pandemic either in the way they treated their staff or their refusal to pay members their accrued rebates.

Whatever the problem, question or possibility we’ve been confronted with over the last few months we have worked with our team, supply chain and our members to find the solutions and shared best practices via our newsletter as often as we can.

We’re all in this together and we really look forward to the country re-opening in the future so we can start working with our 3,000+ members on a more regular basis.