While Pauleys may have missed out on scooping the 5 A DAY Supporter of the Year award at Re:fresh in May, David Ibbotson, director of produce, believes that the MVS National Foodservice Supplier of the Year accolade was, in fact, “the right one to win”. “It was a real honour to win and we are so proud,” he tells FPJ. Indeed, the Re:fresh winners’ logo now features prominently on the firm’s customer presentations and on the Pauleys Produce Box - which had already been reconfigured last year to clearly display the 5 A DAY logo.
“We feel we won because we ticked all the judges’ different boxes and have embraced the concepts of British produce and food assurance,” says Ibbotson. “Pauleys is the only national foodservice company with Red Tractor accreditation on produce and we are strategically involved with our suppliers, which facilitates accreditation.”
Pauleys started life in 1925 in Stamford, Lincolnshire, as an independent store operated by William Pauley. The firm gradually transformed itself into the foodservice specialist it is today, and in 2002 was acquired by the Brakes Group, which employs 9,000 staff in more than 70 locations. The group operates several specialist food units, of which Pauleys is one, along with New Covent Garden Market top-end dining business Wild Harvest, bakery specialist La Boulangerie, M&J Seafoods and Prime Meats, among others.
As the fresh produce specialist of Brakes’, Pauleys finds itself in a good location geographically, easily accessible from London and situated neatly among several of its key UK suppliers. The firm moved to its Corby location in 1996, from its previous base in nearby Essendine. Its telesales, operations, distribution and corporate sales team are all based on site, along with the commercial, technical and marketing staff. The facility can handle 800,000 items and outload 3,000-3,500 pallets a week. Liaison with the rest of the Brakes Group is high, with the strategy of consolidating deliveries of different products and backhauling high on the agenda across the business.
However, Ibbotson, who came on board two years ago, is keen to point out that Pauleys operates with a high degree of independence. “We are integrated with Brakes but we retain independence because of the high-risk nature of what we do and our very specific technical knowledge,” he says. “The benefit of being part of a bigger company is access to a modern distribution fleet and integrated business systems. Here at Pauleys, that leaves us to focus on the marketing, technical and purchasing aspects of fresh produce.”
Along with pubs, restaurant groups and hotel chains, Pauleys counts contract caterers within business and industry sectors as key clients. Utilising Seasons, the quarterly Brakes magazine, and Evergreen, Pauleys’ own biannual publication, the company has plenty of avenues to publicise its work to its suppliers and customers - and in the last 12-18 months, Pauleys’ work has mainly involved a huge focus on provenance and a commitment to supplying customers with product sourced from British growers, wherever possible. “Our message to all our customers is that we do British where we can, around availability and quality,” says Ibbotson.
In May 2008, Pauleys became the first national foodservice supplier to be accredited to use the Red Tractor logo on its produce. To mark the achievement, a farmers’ market was held on the company’s site for customers, with various suppliers displaying their products, while Professor Mark Tatchell, chairman of Assured Food Standards (AFS), which manages the Red Tractor logo, also attended, along with Red Tractor marketing manager Julia Mooney. More than 100 seasonal Pauleys lines can now carry the marque.
With Pauleys receiving Red Tractor status, many of its customers have since also been able to achieve the licence to use the logo. “Red Tractor goes hand in hand with our suppliers and our customers - we have embraced a great assurance scheme,” says Ibbotson.
Pauleys will be promoting the Red Tractor message directly to consumers on October 11, when it sponsors the Royal Parks half marathon in Hyde Park. The company is organising a Red Tractor village to entertain spectators during the race, replicating the supply village erected in its car park at the launch in May 2008 - all with the aim of educating the consumer.
Last year, Pauleys started organising its own meet the grower events, to build on its proud relationship with its network of growers and suppliers. The stories behind the suppliers appear regularly in Evergreen and Seasons, and there is a Meet the Grower feature on the Pauleys’ website. “In the past, we just told people about the links we had with our growers, but we wanted to progress that in an interesting way and create a point of difference,” says marketing executive Rachel Sewter. As a clear example of this, in July, Pauleys - by now no stranger to the awards circuit - scooped the Best Bramley Foodservice Company gong at the annual Brammy Awards, after featuring its Bramley grower in Wisbech prominently in Seasons, and publishing a webcast interview on the Pauleys website.
Adding value and promoting the concept of eating British has really helped propel the company’s image among its network of customers. “There are obviously products that can’t be grown in the UK but if we can, we should support British agriculture,” says Sewter. “In the past, nobody thought of produce as the main feature of a meal, but because we have interesting stories and have added value, people are thinking about it more.”
Ibbotson believes demand for provenance and information about fruit and vegetables is growing in popularity among chefs. “I visited several units of our contract catering clients in London and without prompting, all the chefs said they were interested in British produce and needed to know when products are in season,” he says.
As a result, Pauleys has devised a seasonal calendar for its customers, to advise them of when certain lines are in season, where they are from and when they will be at their best. Specific calendars are available for specific customers. “We have also had to make chefs aware of produce on a quality level,” says Sewter. “Some clients would order lines during a crossover period, so we wanted to highlight the changes the products go through and focus on quality, to make sure they know the different times of year for the better flavours.”
Using its on-site development kitchen, Pauleys conducts monthly range reviews with its foodservice clients. “We really try to be proactive with our customers,” says Ibbotson. “For example, we might help them develop a salad bar concept or a bagged salad range, or work out what size lemons or limes are better for them behind the bar. We aim to work out how we can change our customers’ ranges to add value, often by inviting them here for a hands-on session. The process can be a very simple or a very developed one. It is an important feature of the business.”
Sewter adds: “People have lost touch with different types and varieties of produce, so we run education days and try to train our customers and their chefs. Helping people understand specific categories makes for a good relationship with our customers and this is an important part of the added value we offer at Pauleys. The service level is obviously crucial, but these extra value-added bits are also vital.”
In June, Pauleys launched a range of fruit baskets in differing sizes, offering customers a convenient solution for a wide range of fruit snacking needs. “This is a growth area,” says Ibbotson. “For example, one of our customers ordered a fruit stand for its reception areas in most of its gyms, so now gym-goers can pick up a healthy snack for free when they have been exercising. We have also found call centres ordering a lot of fruit baskets for their staff.”
With so many restaurant, pub and hotel chains finding the economic climate challenging, it is crucial to help out your customer base - now more than ever insists Ibbotson. “We help them look at their range, pack sizes and specs, and look for efficiencies that help them increase footfall,” he says. “There has been a high amount of activity on this in the last eight to 12 months as our customers have looked to us to take out costs, and we have done that very well. Our strategic purchasing operation facilitates that. Our clients are doing meal offers to tempt people off the street and we are looking to give them the help to do those.”
Sewter cites several advantages in belonging to a larger group such as Brakes - not least, the ability to offer customers consolidated deliveries, akin to a one-stop shop, and access to a vast range of market information and reports purchased by the Brakes head office in Ashford, Kent. “These market reports enable us to share future trends with our customers, offering a constant stream of information,” she says. “We are always one step ahead of what’s going on.”
Technical manager Steven Corras has worked for Pauleys for nine years. His role also involves looking after the technical side of life at fine dining business Wild Harvest in London, which also receives produce from Pauleys. “I have end-to-end responsibility on any technical aspect of Pauleys’ fresh produce,” he tells FPJ. “As you would expect, Pauleys is a quality-led business. It is important to ensure that product being grown, harvested and packed meets the expectations of your customers. All our produce is 100 per cent traceable.
“The biggest challenge is delivering consistency. We have to work closely with our suppliers to ensure we deliver to our customers’ requirements. Pauleys is proud of the level of consistency we achieve, especially during difficult seasonal cut-over periods.”
Corras sits on the board of Assured Produce, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of AFS. He was instrumental in pushing the firm towards attaining Red Tractor accreditation. “Achieving Red Tractor can put reins on your business, as once you have set those standards, you can’t deviate from them,” he says. “We are very strict. If you put the controls in, you have to stick to them. Some people might say the specs are too high for foodservice, but I think foodservice is greatly underestimated and we always strive for the best.
“Integrating our business into Brakes has allowed us to become more focused and diligent,” he adds. “Brakes also has a strong technical team of its own that we can call upon for support when we need to.”
In Corras’s team, Kelly Smith is responsible for visiting growers and studying crops in the fields, in the UK and overseas, acting as the firm’s eyes and ears in the production base. “This is a key feature, as quality starts in the field,” says Ibbotson. “We point out any future risk with supply and these are published on the website for our customers. This year, for example, the quality of English strawberries was not sufficient towards the end of the season, so we made the decision to switch to Dutch supply. This is a good example of what Kelly is doing. The fruit was okay in the field, but shelf life would not have stood up.”
While interacting with the customers in this way is crucial, equally as important is sharing data with the firm’s 42 core suppliers and growers, according to purchasing manager Craig Buttress, who is responsible for 80 per cent of the produce arriving at the depot. “We share details of our business with our suppliers and growers and let them get involved,” he explains. “We want them to understand what our customers are working on.”
With many of the staff, such as Buttress and warehouse manager John Turney, working their way up from the factory floor to management level, there is no shortage of experience and knowledge in the Pauleys team. “We are making constant movements and improvements and want to ensure the willingness of the business to move forward,” says Turney.
“We have knowledge of the business and we want to improve it - we also have a passion for it,” agrees Buttress.
So what’s next on the agenda for Pauleys? Ibbotson explains: “Over the next 12 months, our focus will be on our customers’ priorities - continuing to give them value during this difficult trading period. We will carry on developing produce ranges specifically for their needs and offering value in areas of pricing and distribution, while also maintaining our farm-assured approach, our strategic purchasing, our work on marketing and CSR, and continuing to deliver quality produce. We want to bring our produce to life for our customers.”
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