Francis Ball was re-elected chairman of the FWD at last week's annual general meeting. Afterwards, opening the annual conference, Ball said: "I can report to you that your federation is in fine fettle. It is achieving positive results for the membership and is in a sound financial state."

The independent sector returned to sales growth in 2007 and outperformed Tesco and Sainsbury over Christmas, according to Nielsen.

Building work on new offices for Landmark Wholesale is due to begin this week.

Wholesalers investing in expansion of their businesses was a theme which emerged in several presentations at the FWD annual conference last week.

My Shop is Your Shop campaign activists were finalising plans for National Independents' Week - beginning June 2 - as news of more support from suppliers and wholesalers was announced.

An independent retailer who spoke at the FWD annual conference underlined her commitment to National Independents' Week.

Independent retailers can sign up for free in-store T-shirt kits for National Independents' Week (NIW), which begins on June 2.

Booker's recovery is gathering pace, according to results published for its fourth quarter.

Food inflation, overcapacity in the eating-out market and the downturn in consumer spending will increase pressure on the UK's pubs and restaurants and are likely to lead to a higher number of business casualties this year, particularly in the pub sector.

Brakes has extended its selection of sandwiches and its range of Italian products.

A new wine distribution company for the foodservice sector, ViVAS, has been set up by 3663 and independent wine company Bibendum Wine.

Parfetts Cash & Carry has agreed to sponsor Sara Parfett, a young Olympic hopeful swimmer, as she trains towards her goal of competing at the 2012 Olympics, by contributing to her travelling and training expenses.

For me, the most memorable feature of an otherwise underwhelming 2008 Budget was Mr Darling's blatant money grab on booze and fags. It took me straight back to the old days of chancellors like Barber, Healey, Howe and Lawson. Nowadays, the politics of food and drink are increasingly being focused on issues such as the environment, sustainability, obesity, binge drinking, labelling and healthy eating. So in some ways it was reassuring to be jolted down memory lane by the Treasury's plain need for more cash - and who knows, perhaps wholesalers took a modicum of stock profit along the way?

Blakemore Wholesale is launching a new delivered solution for catering and on-trade customers, under the banner b: direct.

Five new lines have been added to Whites, the 3663 range of luxury frozen and chilled foods for chefs.

Aparty of 25 youngsters - customers at independent stores - watched their Leicester City FC heroes being coached at the club training ground in the first phase of the new My Shop is Your Shop (MSYS) community football scheme.

The FWD presented leaving gifts to Trevor West of Mars UK and Chris Rose of Landmark at its annual conference.

Landmark Wholesale has appointed Stuart Johnson as retail operations manager for its Hot House retail programme.

Paragon Quality Foods has appointed its first customer service manager, Jo Bond.

Musgrave Retail Partners GB has made two senior appointments.

? Job title: senior buyer

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Rob Page, business sector controller of Foster's EMEA, was the individual winner of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors annual golf day.

Pro-retail is in its 24th year, and continues to provide a platform from retailers to interact with over 180 of the UK's suppliers and manufacturers.

Leading wholesalers and suppliers will address the annual conference of the Scottish Wholesale Association (SWA) in June.

FEAR. There's a lot of talk about suppliers and how they are frightened by the nasty Big Four. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has recognised this aspect of 21st century trading by its admission that giant global manufacturers were too scared to complain about the giant multiples' abuse of buying power.

Creed Catering Suppliers, an independent foodservice wholesaler, has invested in new warehouse technology from Business Computer Projects (BCP).

Sanderson has supplied its wholesale distribution solution to Eastenders Cash & Carry at its new branch in Coventry.

Restaurant Wholesale has chosen STL to supply merchandising management software solutions for its Manchester cash and carry.

Landmark Wholesale's Hot House programme was set up with support from 16 suppliers, including Mars, in mid 2004 in a bid to help regenerate the independent retailers who make up many of its members' customers.

As successful as the giant multiples are, they would never pretend that they could copy the principles of the FWD My Shop is Your Shop campaign, with its slogan of "Local And Proud Of It". So it's in every wholesaler's interest to help their retailers with plans for the biggest ever National Independents' Week (NIW) beginning on June 2.

PRE-PLANNING

Dennis Williams, of Broadway Premier, Edinburgh, says profitability increased by 10 % during NIW 07 - and he and his wife Linda are recording on-going increases in turnover as a result of their implementation of MSYS. It's a bonus, he says.

Lesley Brown, of Frankmarsh Stores, Barnstaple, told the FWD PR Action Group (PRAG) that her business would not have survived but for the inspiration of the MSYS campaign. It's a business driver, she said. This is her NIW 08 plan.

Ian Taylor's experience in retailing is immense, but even so he was keen to drive an increase in sales by using the best practice advice offered by the FWD Take Home Blueprint for his Key Store, in Portgordon, North East Scotland.

Station Road Mini Market, in Stockton on Tees, is typical of many of the stores that the FWD Take Home Blueprint is called on to help. But its problems - based on hasty and inaccurate merchandising - were soon solved.

Since its formation in 1985 The Authentic Food Company has developed into a leading supplier of international fine foods to the foodservice and convenience sectors, and now employs 230 people at its headquarters at Sharston in Manchester.

How often in our personal lives do we applaud when we witness someone dealing with a complaint professionally but struggle to get those same principles, that we value so highly, adopted into our own businesses. Employee empowerment as a concept can bring shudders to the boardrooms of businesses large and small, but handled with thought and a strategy can enable the same businesses to appear flexible and swift with their decision making particularly at the frontline of customer management.

While wholesalers and suppliers often refer to caterers as a single group of customers, the catering community is actually made up of a range of different types of operations, each seeking distinct products and services. HIM's Cash & Carry Caterer Tracking Programme was set up to provide insights into these customers and has identified six main catering groups: café, restaurant, pub/bar, fast food outlet, hotel, deli/sandwich shop.

Nescafé Gold Blend is offering the chance to win VIP tickets to 'Britain's Favourite Events'.

The Authentic Food Company has refreshed its Thai Dim Sum range.

Unilever Foodsolutions has reformulated the Knorr Oriental Sauces range.

Anson, a supplier of thermoformed food packaging, has launched its latest collection to help foodservice customers find the products they need.

Essential Cuisine has launched No1 Chicken Gravy.

While still producing nearly 70% of the world's wine, in less than a decade Europe has lost its dominant market position in the UK as New World wines continue to capture the imagination of the mass market.

This year National Barbecue Week is May 26 to June 1 and hopefully will encourage more consumers to try barbecuing

Frozen is a vital and growing category in the foodservice sector, and is also showing strong growth in the c-store and independent retail sectors. The most recent figures from the IGD relate to 2006 (it was finalising its 2007 figures as this feature was written) and show frozen sales in the delivered foodservice sector were worth £1,377m, and that even in the cash and carry sector, where it is more difficult for customers to ensure the integrity of frozen products during transit, foodservice sales were £87m. IGD notes that foodservice customers account for more than half (54.3%) of cash and carries' frozen sales, and that many cash and carry operators are increasing their frozen offering for this customer group.

PepsiCo has launched a 'You Make It, We Play It' promotion on its Doritos brand.

Red Bull has launched Red Bull Simply Cola.

Wrigley has announced the arrival of two new additions to its Extra brand.

Kraft has launched the family sized pack of Oreo biscuits to UK convenience stores.

Gallaher is launching a drive to raise the profile of Mayfair among wholesalers and retailers.

Mars Snackfoods is giving away 100,000 footballs as part of its Mars Balls Get Britain Playing campaign.

Greencore Group has unveiled a range of chilled meal solutions for the convenience sector.

V energy drink from Danone Waters has been launched with a price-marked pack format.

Premier Foods brand, Homepride, is extending its Pasta Bake range.

United Biscuits (UBUK) has announced a partnership with environmental charity World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Scottish & Newcastle UK has unveiled what it describes as its biggest ever off-trade product innovation with Foster's and Kronenbourg 1664.

Nottinghamshire-based Springhead Brewery has won listings for its Roaring Meg brand with Makro and Costco.

David Stewart, malt master of the award-winning Balvenie Distillery, has crafted The Balvenie Signature Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

Beefeater Gin, the only major gin brand still distilled in London, has developed a 15-strong fleet of the capital's black cabs liveried in its Forever London advertising to raise awareness of its London provenance.

Mateus Rosé, is launching its 'Kanga Pack' to encouraging trial of the Mateus Rosé range during the run-up to summer.

Heineken's 500ml cans are being given a makeover with a new design intended to reflect the premium quality of the brand and to reinforce its association with the Heineken Cup rugby tournament.

Gaymer Cider Company is launching Gaymers pear cider, and claims it will add an estimated £1m increase in sales to the UK cider category within 12 months.

Following the introduction of a new style 500ml bottle for its range of single variety ciders, Thatchers Cider has now made the same change for other 500ml products in its portfolio.

Beam Global UK is building on last year's marketing campaign for Teacher's with the launch of a new Create Your Space programme.

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