Independent retailers are urging more cash and carry and delivered wholesalers to become involved in the My Shop Is Your Shop (MSYS) campaign.

Hyperama Cash & Carry has announced plans to open its third cash and carry depot this autumn in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.

Costco has revealed plans to open its 17th outlet in the UK, a 135,000sq ft warehouse in Milton Keynes, just a month after opening its 16th in Bristol.

Charles Wilson will return to Booker in October to become chief executive nearly five years after he left the company.

The capital will need several million square feet of extra convenience shopping space by 2016, according to a report published by the The Greater London Authority.

The FWD and ACS have made urgent representations to the Department for Food & Rural Affairs about proposed changes to the Packaging Waste Regulations.

Coverage of the National Independents’ Day celebration on June l has now been calculated at no less than £1.5m in equivalent advertising cost terms.

Sterling Supergroup, the £460m turnover buying group, has recruited Caterfood (South West), a foodservice wholesaler operating from Paignton in Devon.

Bidvest Group, the parent of 3663, has clinched a deal to buy Deli XL, a leading foodservice distributor in Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg, from Dutch group Ahold for €140m.

The Parliamentary All Party Small Shops Group of MPs is to investigate trends in the UK retail market with a view to answering public concerns about creeping centralisation. The inquiry will invite evidence from retailers, consumers, and government and enforcement bodies.

LICENSING GUIDANCE

Palmer & Harvey McLane’s Winerite subsidiary has won a contract to supply alcohol to Mills Group just days after P&H’s symbol division announced it had signed up around 60% of the independent Scottish Mace retailers following its acquisition of the Mace name from Somerfield.

A new loyalty programme for caterers, Foodservice Rewards, has been launched with participation from Nestlé FoodServices and Young’s Bluecrest Seafood.

Specialist confectionery cash and carry Hancocks said its sales in the first six months of this year had grown by 7% compared with the same period last year.

New research from Mintel shows sales of bottled water booming as healthier drinks take an increasing share of Britain’s soft drinks market and carbonates’ share continues to decline.

Booker in Top 100

Delivered wholesaler Blueheath has won the contract to supply forecourt dealer Motor Fuel in a further boost to its UK forecourts network.

Unilever UK Home & Personal Care says it is demonstrating its commitment to the wholesale channel with the launch of an exclusive price-marked pack for the independent sector.

Wholesalers are putting forward nominations for the industry’s big foodservice suppliers’ trophy, the Catersummit Cup.

Best before and use by dates are extremely important in our real world, sharp end, wholesaling activities. It is essential from a legal point of view that they are properly managed, and it is an important part of our offering to provide our customers with the maximum possible life on products.

Catering now accounts for 39% of Landmark’s turnover making it the third largest supplier after Brakes and 3663, its annual conference in Toronto was informed.

Coors Brewers is urging retailers to get behind its Sell it Cold campaign this summer, by running displays in almost 90 wholesale depots to highlight to retailers the benefits of stocking and selling cold beer.

The Nestlé Rowntree Manager of the Month award for July has been presented to Howard Graham, grocery/impulse buying director of Dee Bee.

Suppliers participating in the Take Home Blueprints will undertake more organised visits to independent retailers who are achieving extra sales and profits from the scheme.

The Federation of Wholesale Distributors confirmed that next year’s National Independents’ Day would take place on Thursday, June l.

As the late, great Hollywood mogul Louis B Meyer said: “It’s déjà vu all over again.” First, it was the Animal By-Products regulation that the Government sneaked out on an incredulous food industry and now they are doing it again.

Dhamecha Cash & Carry has recruited to strengthen its business development team, and is looking to exploit central buying opportunities with a new head office appointment.

Brian Kyle has returned to foodservice supplier Pritchitts as its head of foodservice UK. He had worked for Pritchitts for 13 years becoming national sales manager before leaving last year.

CJ Lang & Son has strengthened its group services division adding two new controllers.

Job title: trading manager 

Londis retailer Alan Fincham of High Street, Attleborough, in Norfolk, has been awarded the £1,000 top prize for his National Independents’ Day (NID) in-store theatre activity.

The Drinksummit vase for 2005 for the most supportive and innovative drinks supplier to the wholesale sector was this year awarded to Interbrew.

The country’s best independent caterers and retailers were celebrated at a glittering awards ceremony marking this year’s Booker Prize for Excellence at the Concept Centre, Millbrook, Bedfordshire.

CELEBRATE. The significant difference about the My Shop Is Your Shop marketing campaign, supporting wholesalers’ core independent retailer customer base, is its constructiveness.

Retailers’ behaviour and their views on the service provided by their wholesalers vary widely from region to region according to him!’s Cash and Carry Customer Tracking Programme.

The British public’s appetite for eating out is undiminished, with the Office for National Statistics suggesting that spending on eating and drinking out of home has grown by 82% in the 10 years from 1992. The pub sector is one of the fastest growing in the UK and it is estimated that it now accounts for some 18% of the out of home market.

Key Lekkerland member WH & HM Young has had an integrated security system installed at its 70,000 sq ft purpose-built warehouse and head office at Leeds.

Following a comprehensive systems review, Musgrave Group, Ireland’s largest food and grocery distributor, has chosen to re-commit to its existing solution from supply chain specialist Business Computer Projects (BCP) for its Musgrave Wholesale Services Division (MWS).

Sanderson, the UK-owned wholesale distribution and cash and carry software provider, has won contracts worth in excess of £500,000 to provide its Swords software to three new customers.

Buying bible keeps Parfetts on track

Former Booker wine controller Andrea Hargrave warned that wine promotions were in danger of driving value out of the market.

Suppliers and wholesalers were given the deepest and most honest insight yet into the success of the Take Home Blueprint in papers at Drinksummit.

Mike Paul, managing director of Western Wines, refuted suggestions that suppliers have been using the wholesale sector to subsidise their deals with the multiples.

The take-home market accounts for 35% of the £32bn alcohol market and is predicted to grow to 40% by 2020, according to David Glennon, marketing manager of ACNielsen.

Cider is one of the few categories in which the wholesale sector has a bigger market share, at 37%, than grocery, and presents a great opportunity to grow that, according to Scottish Courage Brands trading director – wholesale, David Ashcroft.

Wholesalers agree that across the board, National Independents’ Day 2005 was the biggest promotional and PR achievement ever for the independent retail sector. Press, radio and television news coverage achieved impact on consumers worth more than £1m in costed equivalent advertising terms.

In-store promotional activity linked with NID and promoted by individual wholesalers, in addition to money-off coupon incentives in the Daily Mirror and Daily Record, was widespread.

Alan Toft, chairman of the My Shop Is Your Shop marketing campaign supporting independent retailers, reviews NID for ProWholesaler and looks forward.

Frozen food may not be one of the biggest categories for many wholesalers, and in the retail sector it’s sales growth is failing to even keep up with inflation, but in foodservice at least it is showing encouraging growth. According to British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) figures, the retail market for frozen has risen by 1.3% in value in the past year, to be worth around £4bn.

With the wholesale grocery market worth £16.7bn and predicted by IGD to grow to £18.3bn by 2007, the sector is an increasingly attractive market for suppliers to get involved in. Of course many big companies have been closely involved with the wholesale sector for years, but more and more other companies are realising the value it can offer them.

While snacks and chocolate are two of the crucial categories in the impulse sector, soft drinks really puts its competitors in the shade with sales greater than the other two categories combined – and it’s still growing.

Mark Johnson opened his Celebrations off-licence in Offerton, Stockport, just over nine months ago. Despite this being his first shop, business is booming with plans for expansion already in place.

Scottish Courage is strengthening its cider portfolio with the launch of Strongbow Sirrus, a 5% ABV triple-filtered packaged cider available in 275ml and 500ml bottles.

Tennent’s Lager is launching a new can for the take-home market. The new packaging uses aluminium instead of steel to create a more modern can which uses the brand’s red T logo in a contemporary way.

Interbrew UK is rolling out Absolut Cut to the take-home trade from August, following its introduction into the on-trade late last year.

Jacob’s Creek is currently introducing temperature sensitive labels to bottles of Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir, Sparkling Rosé and Shiraz Rosé. The new labels, placed on bottles with ‘Enjoy Chilled’ neck tags, advise consumers when the wine is chilled to its optimum temperature to drink.

Beverage Brands is aiming to help independent retailers drive sales of WKD by providing them with an offer for their shoppers in a promotion available through cash and carry outlets from this month.

Wrigley has launched its biggest ever on-pack promotion, offering consumers the chance to win one of 10,000 iPods.

The Weetabix Food Company is launching two new products, Weetaflakes and Alpen No Added Sugar with apricots, dates and pistachios.

United Biscuits UK is launching two of its biggest ever on-pack promotions on its McCoy’s and Hula Hoops savoury snacks brands.

Cadbury Trebor Bassett will launch Dairy Milk Turkish in a single bar format on August 15.

Trigon Snacks is introducing the Planters Premium Nut Range to help independent retailers tap into the premium nuts sub-category.

Heinz Baked Beanz has launched a new Reduced Sugar and Salt variant available in 415g and 2.62kg, with 50% less salt and 25% less sugar compared to standard Heinz Baked Beans.

Nestlé FoodServices will host in-store sampling events over the next two months in a bid to drive growth of the Nescafé Speciality range of coffee,

Unilever Foodsolutions has extended the Knorr portfolio with the launch of Knorr Jus – a gourmet gravy, which is available in four flavours (chicken, beef, lamb and veal).