Sixteen years is a long time in foodservice. When Tony Reynolds, a third generation greengrocer with a market stall in east London’s Ridley Road, was offered the chance to supply fruit and vegetables to Whitbread wine bars in the City of London, he set up a new business in Lamb St, Old Spitalfields market. From small premises sandwiched between J Hurst and Bennett & Hawes, the company soon enjoyed its first £20,000 week and turned over around £1 million in 1990.
Fast forward to 2005 and the company has a weekly turnover of in excess of £1m. It has a fleet of 150 plus trucks delivering an exhaustive range of fresh produce to a national network of foodservice customers. And for the last 12 months those trucks have been proudly carrying the Re:fresh award winner’s logo.
“Last year’s Re:fresh Awards gave foodservice the opportunity for recognition as a separate category in fresh produce for the first time,” says Reynolds. “We went into the event to win it, because that’s what we are all about, and as an ambitious company we were keen to represent the foodservice sector well.
“A lot has happened to both the category and us as a company over the last few years and the new award enabled us to put forward an entry that emphasised the quality of the people we’ve got in our business. Internally we wanted to show that we could go into an event like Re:fresh and put on a good show and that Reynolds employees are part of that and can be extremely proud of what this company has achieved. It was also good, of course, for our customers to see that we had demonstrated the credibility that got us the vote of the judging panel.”
Reynolds adds that - as well as an opportunity for his own company to raise its profile - the concept of the awards was something he was determined to support too. “This is a great industry and there are many companies with very good stories to tell. To have an awards evening that allows some of those stories to be told is an excellent opportunity for the industry. There was a great buzz at Re:fresh last year and I hope we see more of the same next month.
“We want to be as supportive of the fresh produce industry as possible. There are so many opportunities emerging to increase consumption of our products, as the government policies to back healthy eating and 5 A DAY gain so much publicity. We are active campaigners and will support anything that promotes fresh produce being available to every section of society, or educates the consumer of the benefits of consuming more fruits and vegetables.
“We need to decide what we need to do as companies and as an industry to meet that potential with the correct supply chain solution.
“It is important for foodservice to become part of that fabric. It must have a voice, and events such as Re:fresh will accelerate that. The common denominator for all people in fresh produce is a very strong work ethic. We all know you can’t do nine to fives in this business and it is accepted that it is a six to seven day week, with unsociable hours. The businesses that are successful are a testament to the people who have managed to sustain that work ethic over the years.”
Tony Reynolds himself has been recognised for his business acumen in the last 12 months, having been shortlisted as a finalist in the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, sponsored by The Times. He used that too as a call to promote fresh produce. “Wherever there is a chance for fresh produce to be given a spotlight in the media, we like to emphasise what a unique business this is and the range of expertise within it.
“What we’ve also done is tried to raise the bar for fresh produce in foodservice. We have a lot of respect for the likes of Tesco and Waitrose. And I think there is a huge opportunity for foodservice companies that are prepared to invest in their systems and their people, to go a long way towards bringing the standards of produce the retailers offer on the high street to the foodservice arena. Certainly, we feel there is an unprecedented momentum taking our business to much higher levels.”
That business now stretches to six sites around the UK, including the 15,000sqft headquarters in New Spitalfields wholesale market in east London. Satellite depots in Bristol (South West and South Wales), King’s Lynn (East Anglia), Manchester (North England and North Wales), M1 junction 22 (Midlands) and Grangemouth (Scotland) provide the national logistics network that has catapulted Reynolds to prominence in its field.
And two weeks ago, the acquisition from Sainsbury’s of a 120,000sqft distribution centre just off the M25 between Waltham Cross and Cheshunt takes Reynolds to another new level. While there is no definitive timetable for completion, fitting out has already begun and the company will be operating from the ex-RDC later this year. “Obviously, this represents a multi-million pound investment to provide this company with the infrastructure that can support its rate of expansion,” says Reynolds. “The purchase of the centre was the culmination of three years of planning and hard work. We had looked at other options, but when this site became available it was too good to pass up. It is a phenomenal location for our business - we still have a massive amount of business in London and it also has excellent road links with all parts of the country.”
Not that it won’t be a wrench to leave the wholesale environment. While the company will maintain units at New Spitalfields, the head office will move to the new centre. “I will miss it,” Reynolds says. “There are still some great characters here and I love the atmosphere and the people. I love the fact that it can be really tough and cold at 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning and traders are still able to have a laugh and a joke. We will retain an interest here and I will always actively promote the market.
“The award last year was recognition, not only for Reynolds, but also for the market and people that have supported us like Corporation of London market superintendent Mike Culverwell and his team and also the Spitalfield Market tenants association. These are genuine people who don’t often get the recognition they deserve, but at this market we have all been part of one big team.”
He accepts that some wholesale tenants have become disenchanted that Reynolds, and other foodservice companies on the market, have sourced a greater proportion of their product direct. “The business has changed. Many of our customers want to see the supply chain, they want to go and look at tomatoes in a field in Spain and meet the growers and see the traceability of the whole process,” he explains. “The more people that are involved in that process, the higher the costs, and commercial pressures have driven the foodservice sector down the direct sourcing route.
“The pace of our business has increased significantly,” says Reynolds. “Even since we won the award last year, we have moved up through another couple of gears. That is down to the combination of a lot of hard work and a fair amount of luck - I believe you need both to be successful. You gain confidence by getting the right results and we have always believed in working closely with and listening to our customers and trying to beat their expectations every time.”
The availability of 800 per cent more capacity at the new centre will make life easier, but while Reynolds accepts that the Leyton base has had its constraints, he believes it has played a big part in making the company what it is today. “There is a science to what we do. We have had to minimise stock holding and tried to optimise our cross-stocking systems. We have worked together with our supply base to create a supply chain that allows us to maximise efficiency without at any stage jeopardising quality standards. And while it has caused us the odd problem because it has inhibited our scope to invest in the business as we would have ideally liked, we have learnt how to make optimum use of a system in the environment that surrounds it.”
A potential 10,000 pallet slots will offer Reynolds more options. “The nature of our businesses and the ways in which our customers are developing means that there is a constant need to analyse our product procurement and supply systems. We have various customers that might well choose to use our experience in just-in-time distribution of chilled products for instance, and carry that over to other product areas. There are probably even processing options we could look at. It is a fantastic feeling to know that we will soon have those opportunities available to us.
“There is more hunger here than ever to fulfil our potential - and it is pretty scary when we visualise just how far we still could grow. But now we are in a position to realise our dreams.”
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