In the last 12 months, we have experienced a 12 per cent increase in the price of fuel. Since fuel is not a cabbage, a carrot or a cauliflower, we do not always take into account the value of this commodity and how it sits within the associated price of a product. There is no doubt that the cost of moving products is increasing for us all - fuel is looking to increase 1p per litre by the end of this year, and a further 1p in the New Year, putting a strain on distributing to our customers.

We have to ask how much our customer knows about and appreciates the cost of delivery. These days many customers are asking for two - even three - deliveries a day. Are we charging the customer for fuel and accounting for it, or absorbing it into the price of the product? If the latter, it may be why we are seeing a lot of poor performance within the foodservice supplier arena.

A bag of swedes was the same in price during 2007 as it was in 1997, yet the cost of distribution to move that bag of swedes around has moved on significantly.

We have all seen recent reports of the supermarkets looking into alternative methods of distribution. Water was one, but the drop sizes in foodservice are too small for us to want to don our jolly rogers - from waterside to kitchen? I think not! Alternatively, we were given the lorry running on road fuel gas, with the government supporting the initiative with budget reports suggesting lower duties and differentials than other fuel types. But the start-up costs for using such a fleet would be extortionate and, in my opinion, these vehicles will be a few more years in the making before being a viable business option.

An ever-increasing amount of people are purchasing through computer auctions - whether they be e-auctions or those physically typed into a computer. Instead of appreciating the cost of distribution, and what it may account for in the future, we do away with traditional negotiations and continue with this auction mentality.

We differ from North America, where suppliers are upfront and unafraid to both educate and hold the customer responsible for fuel costs. On a number of US produce supplier websites, they illustrate the price of fuel to the customer, sent out weekly in graphs, trending its forecasts, so the appreciation month-on-month is in line with ever-escalating fuel prices.

2008 is going to be a very tough year with all the other increases we have seen in 2007 across the different sectors - rising dairy and wheat prices, the Chinese starting to enjoy cheese… Somewhere along the line we have to make the customer aware of the cost of distribution - going forward, produce cannot be delivered for the same price as it was this year - and ultimately, the cost needs to be absorbed through the end-user mechanism (the customer’s menu), so the quality of product is not compromised.

If we are to continue bidding on business through e-auctions and weekly price matrixes, let’s at least allow the customer to appreciate what the different rates of distribution will be between one and three deliveries a day. With all associated costs, do we all know it costs us, on average, £35 to pull on a handbrake?

Equally, our growers’ margins are being hit by the same pressures we suppliers face - increased labour costs, fuel, packaging, inflation… Growers are the only people for whom we go back to the customer and ask for more margin, but the customer needs to take responsibility, to enable the supplier to work with the growers, increase the prices they can pay back to us and pass this back to the growers to cement the relationship, to help the whole supply chain.

For those of you that run 3.5-tonne vehicles, do you know how much it cost you to fill your van this year compared to last year? Same question to those running 7.5t and 15t artics - do you look at that tank of fuel as it goes out and ensure in your own mind that the price is covered by the goods on the back? Six boxes of mushrooms on a third delivery, burning £40 worth of fuel, is not efficient.

These views are merely to help businesses think about the value of the product in relation to the growing pressures we face in the supply chain, but collectively as a sector we need to strive towards changes in this sense together, for the profitability of the foodservice sector in its entirety.

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