BY?JOHN?WOOD

This month has seen a major upheaval in the foodservice sector as, to the surprise of some, a consortium including DBC Foodservice won the massive contract to supply to the UK's armed forces.

Costco has opened its 18th UK warehouse, in Sheffield, and has revealed that its 19th depot will be at Ellesmere Port just outside Chester.

Booker has launched an international phone card.

United Wholesale has launched a campaign to announce the opening of its third depot.

ACNielsen has launched a new service tracking sales by delivered catering wholesalers on a four-weekly basis.

One of the biggest foodservice contracts in the UK has been won by a new consortium, Purple Foodservice Solutions.

Bestway Cash & Carry Group hosted a racing day for 900 people at Royal Ascot in aid of its annual charity. A cheque for £100,000 was presented by Bestway chairman Sir Anwar Pervez to the Pakistan Earthquake Relief Fund. The cheque was received by Dr Maleeha Lodhi, London's High Commissioner for Pakistan. Former jockey John Francome was also present at the presentation.

Today's Group member Dee Bee Cash & Carry has bought confectionery and tobacco delivered wholesale business CL Ostick, in Retford, Nottingham, in a bid to expand its customer base and increase usage of the Today's group fascia.

== Brakes just desserts ==

Parfetts Cash & Carry has bought and is managing its own convenience store in a pilot scheme that could lead to a new retail fascia scheme. It also hopes the store can be used as a showcase and training store to demonstrate good retailing practice.

The Barton Meat Company, 3663's main meat supplier, has opened what it claims is the largest butchers operation for caterers in the UK located in Gorton, Greater Manchester.

MBL's Irish parent company, Musgrave Group plc has announced pre-tax profits of e72.5m for the year to December 31, up 5% on the previous year, on turnover up 17% to e4.4bn.

Bako North Western, a member of the Bako Group, has launched a £1m loyalty scheme.

HIM is launching a new Cash & Carry Caterer Tracking Programme to complement the Retailer Tracking Programme which HIM has been running for more than four years.

The Nestlé Rowntree Manager of the Month for July is awarded to Barry Routledge, general manager of Batleys in Newcastle.

Bestway Cash & Carry group has relaunched its main own label the Best-In brand.

A fourth region has been added to 3663's local sourcing initiative.

How many big-time criminals do you imagine would buy a small shop simply in order to launder their ill-gotten gains through a cash and carry? Not very many would be the right answer - most would probably opt to buy a luxury yacht for cash in Spain. But much of our industry has to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations in the same way as the banks and the financial services industry.

This is the ninth year that Pritchitts has sponsored the ProWholesaler Telesales Achiever awards, recognising the highest levels of excellence in wholesaler sales activity in foodservice.

The Take Home Blueprint activity was launched by the Federation of Wholesale Distributors in 1994 as an educational process for independent retailers.

? Job title: trading manager

Costco UK chief Francis Ball has announced plans to retire in August, and will be replaced by Steve Papas who is currently in charge of setting up Costco's operation in Australia.

The chairman of Capper & Co, Bill Capper, has received the CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Peter Butler has been promoted from sales director to his new role of deputy managing director at SHS Sales & Marketing (GB).

Nicki Norris has been appointed human resources executive for Spar's south-west wholesaler Appleby Westward.

September

Coors Brewers was this year's winner of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors (FWD) Drinksummit Vase.

More than 70,000 visits were recorded to the first Food & Drink World exhibition staged by William Reed, which was held from March 19-22.

Independent retailers across England, Wales and Scotland won a total of nearly £70,000 and 17 prizes at this year's Bestway Retailer Development Awards.

INSIDER. What does the Captain know? What do you know? We are talking Competition Commission here and already those who you think do know are bigging it (get with the new grammar, you lot).

Independent retailers say they are going to extend the ranges of beer, confectionery and soft drinks in their stores more than any other categories in the next year (4,000 independent retailers are interviewed face to face each year as part of HIM's annual Cash & Carry Retailer Tracking Programme). That is good news for all suppliers of these key convenience products.

There is ample evidence of shoppers leaning towards the need for more diversity and choice in the grocery market. Much of this need is met by the choice available in superstores.

Generic educational PR and marketing campaigns - those which are mounted by a group of companies with common objectives - provide an umbrella under which those companies can work on their own competitive commercial activity.

Suppliers were urged to provide the independent sector with an equal chance to feature new products by Steve Roper, director of trading, alcohol and tobacco for Booker.

FWD chairman Francis Ball emphasised the importance of the alcoholic drinks category to the wholesale trade, but warned that duty fraud was damaging the business of legitimate operators.

Licensed trading controller at Landmark Wholesale, Jim Brown, urged other wholesalers to work with retailers to give the shopper what they want. "We at Landmark, like other wholesalers, are helping our retailers flourish in serving the local shopper by giving them the package they need."

Ross Shelley, scheme director for the FWD's Take Home Blueprint, spoke about the change in Blueprint's approach, explaining: "Our focus this year has been on wholesalers and their retailers."

Wholesalers and suppliers should offer training to independent retailers to pass on their knowledge about the drinks trade. This was one of the suggestions from Martin Swadling, category manager - licensed & tobacco at MBL, and he revealed: "We are working with our colleagues from Diageo, Constellation and InBev on some retailer self-training kits."

Costco wine, beer and spirits buyer Pierre Levron gave details of his company's strategy in developing its wine sales.

Peter Reynolds, senior client manager at ACNielsen, said there was good news for independent retailers with consumers increasingly drinking at home, bolstering the off trade market. He said almost half the adult population drink at home every week, and cost was a major factor. "The average price for a pint of beer is £2.24 in the on trade. Whereas the average price for a pint of beer at home is £1 exactly," he said.

Senior national account manager for Hall and Woodhouse Lee Ellis talked about Badger Beer's premium bottled ales and the steps they have taken to help wholesalers sell them. "We have a bespoke pack for Costco, bespoke wholesale price-marked packs, eight packs to reduce investment, and a dedicated sales team with industry credibility. The most important though is we have a profound understanding of the category and consumer."

Paul Downing, business unit director for Diageo GB, said that the industry was facing a challenge: "How to celebrate and facilitate the positive culture of drinking alcohol while working with other stakeholders to address the negative one."

DBC Foodservice is expecting to boost its turnover by more than 50% after a consortium it belongs to won one of the biggest and most complex foodservice contracts in the world. Purple Foodservice Solutions, a specially created consortium comprising DBC, the Vestey Group and Supreme Foodservice, has been awarded the worldwide food supply contract for the Ministry of Defence in a deal worth around £150m a year.

Distribution is one of the crucial factors between success and failure, whether you are delivering office supplies to small companies or computers to large ones. This is true in the supply of food to both foodservice and retail. But one of the key distinguishing features between these two sectors is the way in which distribution is implemented.

Nestlé FoodServices has launched user-friendly packaging for its entire range of Chef fonds, fumets and jus.

Almondy's cakes are now available for foodservice operators in the UK for the first time.

Snowbird Foods is aiming to support its range of Gourmet Plus Chipolatas with a Hot American recipe.

Heinz is launching the Champion of Breakfast campaign to offer caterers the chance to win a kitchen makeover.

Frozen food distributor Belfield is working together with US manufacturer Atkins Elegant Desserts to distribute American-style cheesecake across the UK.

Despite the ban on tobacco advertising and growing restrictions on smoking in public, the tobacco category is showing great resilience with new packs and products being introduced by all the main players. The high price of tobacco in the UK is fuelling growth in the low cost end of the market, but even premium cigarettes and cigars are seeing a piece of the action.

While the overall hot beverages category has been in a gradual decline for a number of years, many individual areas within the category are showing impressive growth. Consumers' tastes and expectations have changed in recent years, particularly out of home, where they expect to pay a premium price for a premium product.

Plan ahead and steal a march on the multiples - that's what independents need to do to stay on top of Christmas confectionery sales and it's where the cash and carry/wholesale trade can help them.

Nestlé Rowntree is offering a 'Kids Go Free' promotion this summer to give kids the chance to try out a new activity.

Coca-Cola Great Britain is launching a multi-million pound marketing campaign for Schweppes, with a number of new products and innovations designed to firmly establish the brand. A TV and cinema advertising campaign will start in August with the line 'Sch... You Know How.'

Walkers has released Steak & Onion and BBQ Rib flavoured crisps to replace Beef & Onion and Barbecue.

GlaxoSmithKline has added a new flavour to its Lucozade Energy range.

Bounty is sponsoring the new series of Love Island on ITV1 and ITV2.

Kraft Foods is launching a limited edition 100g Toblerone bar as part of the 'To Myself' campaign.

Thatchers is aiming to strengthen its Thatchers Gold cider range with the introduction of 500ml cans for the take-home market.

Coors has brought out an on-pack promotion giving consumers the chance to win a Coors branded pint glass.

Scottish & Newcastle UK has launched Foster's Twist, a beer with a hint of citrus.

Beverage Brands is giving independent retailers the chance to claim a range of business prizes worth a total of £400,000.

Last week's sales are well ahead of the previous year with soft drinks, beer, wine and snacks performing really well. England's exit is a disappointment but the good weather should keep us busy over the next few days as retailers restock. While we wanted a long run in the competition to capitalise on business opportunities, everyone here is suffering from soccer fatigue and it will be good to reset our sights on other business opportunities.

Is this the way we should be building relationships with our suppliers? Question for JS - do you have a store in Gotham City?

How much of that business was once legally and profitably traded through cash and carry wholesalers and the independent retail trade? A lot, I can tell you.

This is a massive market and while we continue to attract business from pubs, cafés, snack bars, roadside caterers and old people's homes, there is a much bigger market to go for.

True, the stocking of the brand leader in each product group is a good starting point but, as Unilever admits, people are loyal to particular brands and even the smallest planogram should have reflected this. The toiletries category is high value and profitable. Even in the smallest stores, independents should be encouraged to devote more shelf space and a wider range.