FWD Column: Why wholesale must stay front and centre
Resilience is a word we use often, but at our recent Business Lunch, it truly came to life, says James Bielby, CEO, Food & Drink Wholesale UK
As an association, we’ve made 2026 the year we put wholesale resilience firmly at the centre of the conversation. Following the launch of our Food Resilience Commission in Parliament in January, I’ve been clear that wholesale must not sit on the sidelines of national food security debates. We are central to them, and our latest Business Lunch reinforced exactly why. Bringing together policymakers, wholesalers and suppliers, the discussion was not abstract. It was grounded in the commercial realities our members face every day.
IGD’s Matt Stoughton-Harris set the tone. He spoke candidly about the structural shifts reshaping the food system. For our sector, resilience now rests on two fundamentals: price and availability. Recent inflationary shocks and supply chain disruption exposed weaknesses that none of us can ignore.
SUSTAINABLE PROFITABILITY
What struck me most was his emphasis on sustainable profitability. Without it, there is no investment: not in infrastructure, not in sourcing resilience, not in decarbonisation. IGD modelling suggests climate change could add £2.6bn in annual costs to the UK food system by 2050 under current practices. That is not a distant scenario; it is a strategic risk that requires action now.
Matt also highlighted a fascinating and very real consumer shift: the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss medications, now used by around 5% of UK adults. This is already accelerating demand for protein-rich and nutrient-dense products, while softening discretionary spend in other areas. Wholesale has always been agile, but these structural shifts reinforce the need to adapt ranges quickly and work even more closely with suppliers.
Resilience, however, is not just financial. It is cultural and personal too. Our keynote speaker, polar explorer Alan Chambers MBE, brought that home powerfully. His expedition to the North Pole involved what he described as ‘negative drift’ – walking miles each day only to be pushed backwards by shifting ice. I suspect many in the room recognised that feeling.
His message resonated: control the controllables, work with the right people, stay agile and do not stand still. Leadership, he said, sometimes means leading from the front; other times, it means stepping back to rebuild confidence and momentum. In a volatile trading environment, that flexibility is critical.
VITAL LINK
We then turned to the practical question: if resilience is the goal, how do we build it? Our Investing in Wholesale panel tackled that head-on. The message was clear: long-term sustainable investment is essential.
Speakers highlighted emerging trends, from protein-led innovation to the ongoing importance of price, availability and strong brands. They emphasised channel-specific strategies, the role of field sales and the need to innovate with purpose.
One of wholesale’s greatest strengths is agility. We can respond quickly, adapt to customer needs and get product to market faster than larger competitors. But agility alone is not enough; it must be underpinned by confidence to invest and clarity from policymakers.
For me, the consistent theme across every session was this: resilience is not passive. It does not happen by accident. It requires profitability, strategic foresight and confident leadership.
Through our events, our policy engagement and the work of the Food Resilience Commission, FWD will continue to ensure that government understands a resilient wholesale sector is fundamental to a resilient UK food system.
Wholesale has weathered enormous change in recent years. The question now is not whether we can survive volatility. The challenge is ensuring we are strong enough, profitable enough and confident enough to lead through it.
That is the conversation we are driving on behalf of our members.
climate change Food Resilience Commission FWD Business Lunch FWD column IGD James Bielby Matt Stoughton-Harris resilience