The United Fresh Consortium (UFC) hopes to go carbon neutral within 18 months in its supplies to Hilton hotels.

The consortium, which was formed in July this year when five suppliers in Great Britain joined forces in partnership, has a three-year contract worth £21 million to provide Hilton’s 67 hotels in England, Scotland and Wales with all their fresh produce and dairy needs.

“We have had a lot of conversations with Hilton and initially won a trial supplying 13 of their hotels,” said Christian Paynton, a director of the consortium. “In September we won the contract and we have already worked really hard to reduce our carbon footprint. Within the next 18 months we hope to be operating carbon-neutrally.”

The idea for the consortium of regional suppliers to give national coverage came from Noel Kershaw, managing director of Delifresh. Now Delifresh supplies the Hiltons in the north of England, A David & Co supplies those in Wales and South West England, Loves covers the Midlands, Forsyth Produce Direct covers Scotland, and Jalley & Co deals with those in London and South East England.

Each of the companies operates within its own region, with the strength of a being part of a larger consortium. It could well prove an effective way for smaller firms to compete effectively with larger nation-wide enterprises for lucrative national contracts.

“Now there is an opportunity for well-established, family-run firms to deliver their products into large-scale businesses such as Hilton hotels,” said Paynton.

“We also work very heavily with locally sourced and, where possible, locally grown produce, as provenance is important to Hilton,” he added.

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