The first ever National Independents' Week (NIW), which will start on June 4, will be the biggest ever wholesaler/independent promotional event, say campaign planners.

Bestway Group has opened its 50th cash and carry depot at Enfield in north London.

Confectionery specialist Hancocks cash and carry, has reported year on year sales growth of 2% for 2006 despite a decline in the overall confectionery market.

When it was announced in January that Autobar Group had sold King UK few people in the industry were surprised as it had been known it was up for sale, but what was unexpected was the identity of the purchaser. Most people had expected the non food specialist would follow the trend for consolidation in the industry by becoming part of a big group like Brakes, Bunzl or 3663, but instead it was bought by Casper which had been in existence for six months and owned one other business, the £12m turnover Industrial Supplies (Peterborough).

Salt, saturated fat and sugar have been cut from 3663 own brand products well ahead of time limits set by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Londis has announced retail sales figures of £1.2bn for 2006, an increase of 4% on a like for like basis.

Landmark Wholesale member AF Blakemore has staged an open day to encourage local independent retailers to take part in the group's Hot House retail programme, in a bid to help them counter the threat from multiple c-stores.

Two parent companies of FWD members reported their interims results at the beginning of March, although neither separates out the figures of their UK arms.

== 3663 makes top 20 ==

A team from Ayr College has won the final of Brakes Student Chef Challenge.

The Nestlé Rowntree Manager of the Month Award for March has been awarded to William Knight, the ambient buyer for Batley's in Nottingham. Knight has more than 20 years experience as a buyer and has been in his current role for six years.

The world does not seem to get that much safer from one generation to the next. No sooner do you get rid of the Soviet nuclear threat than along comes global terrorism to replace it in the pantheon of our pyschological phobias. And for all the great strides that have been made in medicine to improve and protect our health, there are still plenty of nasty bugs lurking out there threatening to bite us in the bum (as they say!). One of the potentially most serious is that old stalwart, influenza.

Spar is growing fresh food sales in Scotland with the use of new core chilled range checklists produced by its Scottish wholesaler, CJ Lang & Son.

3663 is aiming to encourage its customers to stage theme days with its new Key Trading Days package.

Twelve of the biggest brands in the UK market are supporting National Independents' Week (NIW) with money-off coupons to be redeemed exclusively at independent c-stores, newsagents and rural shops.

== March ==

JW Filshill was crowned the best wholesale business in Scotland at the Scottish Wholesale Achievers 2007 winning Best Retail Wholesaler (Delivered), Best Licensed Wholesaler (Off Trade) and Champion of Champions.

P&H McLane's Pro-retail show 2007 is due to host over 180 leading suppliers from the independent retail industry.

JK Foods, which operates as part of the Hyperama group has raised £5,000 in a charity raffle and video race day at a dinner marking the 30th anniversary of trading.

CASHFLOW. It's a word (or two) which grabs the eye. It's to do with the My Shop Is Your Shop campaign which is working for retailers.

After price and product availability, customer service is the next most important priority for retailers when shopping in cash and carries, whether it is "fast and friendly" or "knowledgeable and helpful".

The FWD My Shop Is Your Shop campaign was launched in 2004 to fill the vacuum caused by the absence of any positive generic consumer public relations and trade campaign promoting the interests of wholesalers' customers.

Parvez Bhatty, owner of the Anstey Post Office, near Leicester, called in the FWD Take Home Blueprint team to help him compete with a national multiple store when it opened nearby.

The owner of the Off Licence News 2007 Convenience Store of the Year says the FWD Take Home Blueprint helped him achieve his victory in what the industry recognises as the top off licence retailing competition in the marketplace.

Premier Wholesale already squeezes impressive sales out of its 17,500sq ft cash and carry warehouse at Harrow, in west London, but in partnership with Mars Impulse it has been able to significantly increase turnover in its confectionery aisle.

The leaders of the UK wholesale industry will be at the Forest of Arden Hotel on March 26-27 for the FWD Annual Conference, which this year has the theme "Our Mission: Consumer Choice".

After nearly a year and a half in charge of Booker, chief executive Charles Wilson will be able to provide an update on how his turnaround strategy is working at the company.

Richie Gray, director of sales for Kraft Foods Away From Home, will be looking in his presentation at ways that wholesalers and suppliers can work to their mutual benefit.

Alan Toft, architect and chairman of the My Shop Is Your Shop (MSYS) campaign following his retirement from the post of director general of FWD, will outline the objectives and achievements of the activity.

Consumers attitudes towards the major multiples are changing and this presents opportunities for the independent sector, Rodney Hunt, managing director of the Today's Group and former chairman of the FWD Council, will tell the Annual Conference.

Ways that retailers, suppliers and wholesalers can work together to improve the offer to consumers will be the subject a presentation by Trevor West, trading director, convenience channel, of Masterfoods.

A leading expert on competition law will provide delegates at the conference with an insight into the latest thinking.

In his presentation, David Gilroy, business integration controller for Bestway, will be highlighting an area in which independent stores have an edge over big retail chains.

Managing change to meet customer needs will be the theme of the presentation by John Searle, trading director at Landmark Wholesale.

Philip Jenkins, managing director of Sugro UK, will be looking at how to manage choice in his presentation.

From his customary first spot on the agenda, David Glennon, marketing manager of ACNielsen, will be using EPOS data drawn from Nielsen ScanTrack and consumer panel data from Nielsen Homescan to provide a general market overview comparing year on year, and will highlight some of the Christmas winners and recent trends in consumer choices.

New and emerging attitudes to community will be the subject of the presentation by Paul Flatters, chief executive of the Future Foundation.

Moray Newberry, managing director of the design and marketing agency Monitor Creative, will be looking at communicating with customers in his presentation.

It's been hard to avoid the topic of children's health and their diets. Most recently Ofcom announced its plan to ban adverts for junk food aimed at children, following the well-published changes in the food offered at schools. In September 2006, schools were no longer allowed to offer confectionery, savoury snacks or sugary drinks during the lunch break. Fried foods and manufactured meat products were also outlawed.

Nescafé is offering wholesalers, cash and carries and end users the chance to enjoy Britain's favourite events firsthand and in first class surroundings in 2007 and 2008.

Heinz has launched its Dreamz Meanz Heinz on-pack promotion on more the 134 million packs across the Heinz range.

Cremanaze, a specialist in mayonnaise and sandwich dressings, has developed a new Prawn dressing.

Delicious Alchemy, manufacturer of wheat/gluten and lactose-free breads, cakes and cereals, has launched a range of products aimed at the hotel and the catering trade.

Frecco has launched a new product in the form of Frecco Ice & Fruit.

According to Mintel, snacking has become an integral part of modern eating habits, and is now recognised as one of the most lucrative areas of the global food industry. Formal dining and regulated meal patterns have a diminished importance in the 21st Century, and long gone is the notion that it is not right to eat between meals.

Having the most effective technology and transport can mean the difference between success and failure as wholesalers compete for the business. In delivered foodservice customers can vary from major hospitals and schools down to restaurants and pubs, so flexibility in the supply chain is key. Customers are looking for a minimum of deliveries to satisfy all their needs so a company that can provide multi-temperature deliveries from a single vehicle will have a strong advantage.

Masterfoods is expanding the Mars portfolio with the launch of Mars Planets.

Unilever UK is investing £15m in an initiative to drive re-appraisal of the entire laundry category.

Twinings has launched Twinings Roast and Ground Coffee Blends.

The Wrigley Company has announced that Wrigley's has become the Official Chewing Gum of the Premier League.

United Biscuits UK has launched a nationwide 'Share the Goodness' campaign to encourage consumers to think a little differently about McVitie's biscuits.

Cadbury Trebor Bassett is launching Cadbury Dairy Milk Double Choc.

Heinz has re-launched its Mean Beanz range with the introduction of two new flavours, Smokey BBQ and Italian.

Lindt & Sprungli will be encouraging people to 'Give a Gold Bunny a Home' this Easter.

Procter and Gamble Beauty is re-positioning its hairstyling range Wella Shockwaves as a unisex brand.

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce has launched Lea & Perrins Little Tasters into the sauce market.

My diary is already full for the week, and next week doesn't look much better. I'm not building in sufficient planning time and will have to burn the midnight candle to catch up on paperwork.

Major brand acquisition and the transfer of manufacturing to its under-utilised brewing and packaging facilities would make sense as beer consumption continues to fall.

Add to this its most efficient product placement skills and success is assured. With big spends from Kinder Bueno, Mars Delight and KitKat there is some serious snacking business to be done this spring.

Talking with colleagues in the trade, we estimate sales have nearly halved over the past two years. Even when we report rogue traders, nothing appears to be done about it. The loss to us and our customers also represents a massive loss to government coffers. We know FWD has been putting pressure on HMRC on the subject of duty drawback. We need some action urgently.

The catering buyers tells me that Celtic soccer fans are the latest group to be treated to healthy foods following a complete overhaul of menus for their hospitality and banqueting services, restaurants and fast food units.

According to Diageo GB, Guinness it is now the number one beer brand associated with rugby in Great Britain and this year is the second year of the Guinness Premiership sponsorship.

Beverage Brands has launched a new drink in the form of Caledonian Cooler, a fruit flavour, vodka and sparkling water-based ARTD in two flavours.

Carlsberg UK has signed a four-year deal with Glastonbury Festival to become the event's 'official beer' until 2011.

Scottish & Newcastle UK has announced plans to bring its 2007 cider campaign forward.

Diageo has put its French wine brand Piat d'Or through a number of changes to refocus on its core range.

Britvic is offering independent retailers a chance to score VIP cricket tickets everyday of the ICC Cricket World Cup through a text-to-win promotion.

Burton's Foods has announced that it is removing all hydrogenated vegetable oil from its products.

Gallaher, the tobacco manufacturer, has announced the national launch of Silk Cut Graphite.

Bottlegreen Drinks has extended its range with the launch of Bottlegreen Berrylicious juice drink.

Unilever UK is investing £3m in a re-launch for Knorr's Chicken Tonight, Sausage Tonight and Beef Tonight ranges.