Valley Grown Salads, in partnership with Waitrose, hosted its first supplier conference in Almeria, last month.
VGS, category managers for the retailer’s tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines, saw the event as a key activity in driving their joint businesses forward through collaborative working.
The conference, hosted by Jimmy and Vince Russo of VGS brought together over 100 delegates from Spain, Egypt, Israel, Italy, Holland and the UK.
It included presentations from Waitrose; suppliers from the VGS grower base; seed houses; biological control providers and the Almeria local government, as well as an open question and answer session.
VGS owner and director Jimmy Russo said: “We felt the day was very successful in allowing all companies throughout the supply chain to gain a better understanding of each others businesses and insight into their operations.”
The objective was to open communication channels between growers, packers, suppliers and retailers by promoting understanding throughout thesupply chain.
The Waitrose team was represented by Claire Burton, salad buyer, and Paul Yarrow, food technologist for produce. Other presentations reinforced how technical expertise can maintain competitive advantage in the UK retail market.
Jimmy Russo added: "The UK market is under a great deal of retail pressure at the moment with deflation in the market. The only way to address these issues is by working together and I think this conference is a positive step in the right direction.”
Clive Lewis,VGS commercial director, added: “There is a lot of expertise within our supply base and this was a good forum in which to share best practice.”
Greg Hilton, VGS technical director, said: “It was an excellent opportunity for the Waitrose message to reach directly to our growers, and strengthen relationships from both sides.
"It also built on the working practices we have between ourselves and our supply base, and emphasised the importance of bringing Waitrose and the VGS grower base closer together.”
Communicating the Waitrose message to growers outside of the UK was also critical due to the lack of access to the UK retail shopping experience.
Valley Grown Salads are looking to host supplier conferences every two to three years as part of a continuously developing supply chain relationship.
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