Distributors: The lowdown
Wholesale News spoke with three distributors in the sector, NBC Group, SHS Sales & Marketing and Pricecheck Brand Partners, to find out how they play a crucial role
“We continue to access brands where others are now struggling”
NBC Group’s Managing Director David Lunt explains to Wholesale News the crucial role played by distributors in today’s wholesale landscape
As a buying group, NBC offers a specific added-value service for suppliers. We provide one point of contact to access more than 65 members and with multiple messaging opportunities to showcase brands, new products, and essential information and data to enable our members to service their customers effectively and efficiently.
We do this in the knowledge that our members reach more than 45,000 outlets in retail, foodservice, hospitality and via ecommerce. We offer our members access to great brands, at competitive net pricing and a terms package that is paid in full and on time.
As an integrated central warehousing and logistics facility (NDN), we provide essential access to brands in realistic order quantities for our members and third party customers, while providing a safe and reliable route to market for our supplier partners.
NDN stands out as a distributor for two reasons; firstly, it is totally integrated with the buying group, offering a seamless and non-conflicting service for both members and suppliers; secondly, it has national reach and an immense amount of flexibility to provide a safe route to market for everyone. This is a great benefit for our supplier partners that are or are considering supply chain consolidation.
The role of a distributor is simple but challenging – consolidate numerous suppliers into single, efficient deliveries of products in the quantities required by the customer.
What makes it more difficult is getting access to the brands in an environment where supply chain consolidation is growing. NDN continues to be able to access brands where others are now struggling.
PROGRESS
We work with all of the major brands across the sectors we are engaged in, and regularly receive requests from smaller or newer brands to help them access members and consumers. This year we have mentioned three specific suppliers where we have made great progress with them – Capri-Sun, Huel, and Premier Foods.
As the sector continues to consolidate, we wish to let all of our supplier partners that we have a fully integrated business – NBC and NDN – which provides a safe and secure route to market solution for both members and third party customers.
We have so many success stories to share from 2025 that will continue into next year, that it would be unfair to single out any specific supplier. Sufficient to say that the growth in revenues for NDN will illustrate just how important this service is for our suppliers and our members.
“We bring a laser focus to wholesale and convenience”
SHS Sales & Marketing Managing Director Andrew Freestone explains how its focus on wholesale and convenience enables it to deliver real, measurable results for brands
As the UK food and drink market becomes increasingly competitive, SHS Sales & Marketing’s four decades of deep-rooted experience have never been more valuable. A leading sales and marketing company operating across Great Britain and Ireland, SHS has established itself as a pivotal force within the cash & carry and wholesale channel, working in partnership with brand owners and customers to drive sustainable growth.
For more than 40 years, our people have built an unrivalled understanding of the wholesale and convenience sector. We don’t just represent brands — we act as an extension of our customers’ teams. Our expertise, insight and field capabilities allow us to identify opportunities, accelerate distribution and deliver real, measurable results. As a leading distributor across Great Britain and Ireland, our focus is on driving sustainable, profitable growth for both our brand partners and our wholesale customers.
As part of a successful, diversified Group portfolio, SHS benefits from strong financial foundations and long-term investment, providing the stability to support continued expansion. Across Grocery, Confectionery, Soft Drinks, Ice Cream, Healthcare and Household categories, SHS Sales & Marketing represents a portfolio of market-leading names including Highland Spring, ZIP, Mars Ice Cream & Flavoured Milk, Terry’s Chocolate Orange, Burton’s and Fox’s Biscuits, PG Tips, Finish and Nivea.
LASER FOCUS
SHS Sales & Marketing brings a laser focus to the wholesale and convenience environment, allowing brand owners to concentrate on core marketing activity while leveraging channel knowledge, established relationships and actionable insight to unlock performance across depots and store networks.
In Medicines and Personal Care, SHS represents 80% of must-stock OTC brands and has delivered +14% volume growth for Haleon Medicines within Bestway’s Retail Club. Across impulse, Mars Ice Cream and Mars Flavoured Milk have achieved unit growth around three times faster than the category average in Symbols and Independents over the past three years.
Distribution gains of +33% for Mars Ice Cream, alongside targeted NPD such as Galaxy Ice Cream (exclusive to the channel in 2025) and new Maltesers and Twix formats, continue to drive incremental sales and shopper engagement.
Biscuits remain another strong performer, with more than +40% growth supported for select customers through distribution gains, PMPs and flexible, depot-focused logistics.
Underpinned by a highly experienced and committed team and supported by the scale and stability of the wider SHS Group, SHS Sales & Marketing continues to strengthen its position as a trusted partner to the wholesale sector, driving opportunity, resilience and long-term value for the channel.
“For us, one size DOESN’T fit all”
Where Pricecheck Brand Partners excels is its tailored customer service, explains Commercial Director Darren Goldney
We are proud to partner with 15 brands, many of which have multi-brand portfolios, such as Jacobs Douwe Egberts Peets (Kenco, Douwe Egberts, Costa, Maxwell House, L’Or), Church & Dwight (Batiste, Femfresh, Nair), Elida Beauty (Alberto Balsam, Impulse, VO5), Malibu Sun Care, Edge Vapes, Asevi and the Astonish pricemarked range.
As our competency and capabilities have grown, we want to work with partners who match our ambition and understand the benefits of scale partnerships with potential growth and we welcome constructive challenge and support in equal measure.
MENU
We regard the suppliers we buy from and the wholesalers we sell to as our customers. For suppliers, our core offer is recognising that one size doesn’t fit all. Our menu is a 10-point service plan to maximise revenue and protect brand integrity. Ranging from our foundational wholesale service, which offers reach into more than 2,000 customers across an 8,000 SKU range of regular and rotational lines, to full brand distribution and representation.
We can manage tasks like credit control and value-added logistics such as creating new pack sizes or PMPs, while our Brand Academy can train staff, develop existing business and target ‘white space’ channels such as convenience, foodservice and DIY.
EFFICIENCY
By combining the efficiency of a wholesale infrastructure with the effectiveness of a dedicated sales and marketing resource, Pricecheck Brand Partners really stands out. Most of our competitors offer one or the other, we strive to be the best at both.
Our ability to consolidate increases our efficiency and, because we service customers with a wider range, we can lower the minimum drop to as little as one case and to the customer itself for just £1,500 in mainland UK. This ensures constant availability for customers without them waiting to build up large orders. We’ve even seen cases, such as with Jacobs Douwe Egberts, where appointing us actually reduced prices compared to direct supply due to our marginal costing benefits.
Our effectiveness is driven by our people and our transparency. We don’t just achieve breadth of distribution; we drive SKU depth through our Brand Academy training and joint business plans that rival direct relationships. A key differentiator is our strategy to represent largely one lead player per category. We ‘nail our colours to the mast’ of our key brand partners, avoiding the conflict of interest that comes with managing major direct competitors, where there can be worry about focus and priority.
ADVICE
For brand owners, appointing a distributor isn’t about losing control; it’s about building muscle. It extends your team, allowing your in-house experts to focus on core competencies like brand development and consumer insights while we execute the plan collaboratively. It’s actually more control rather than less, and at a lower cost.
For wholesalers, it’s important to understand that using a distributor doesn’t mean a higher price. A supplier’s cost to service their own logistics and sales teams often exceeds the marginal cost we need to cover. By using us, customers also gain the buying efficiency of a single point of delivery and contact.
SHINING EXAMPLE
Astonish is a British brand that ticks all the right boxes: high quality, great value, TV support, the right pricemarked pack and a fair margin. Just three years ago, sales through the wholesale and convenience channel were near zero, but by getting the fundamentals right, such as the right case size and decent margins, we’re on track to distribute 1.5 million bottles this year.
