The Wholesale Group: United for growth

BUYING GROUPS

Jess Douglas, Managing Director of The Wholesale Group, explores how innovation and collaboration are driving growth for the unique buying group, 12 months on from its launch

The Wholesale Group remains the only buying group operating at scale across retail and foodservice markets after launching as the home of the independent wholesaler following the merger of Confex and Fairway in January 2025. Now, after a strong first 12 months, we support 230 members who collectively serve nearly 350,000 customers across the UK – around 14% of the UK wholesale market.

The hard work won’t stop now, however. Through strategic member recruitment, ESG leadership and deeper collaboration with our members and supplier partners, we have ambitious plans to reach £5 billion turnover.

We’ll continue to invest in technology to enable smarter use of data and AI, and to grow our own-brand offering too. It’s all set out in our growth strategy, with ambitions to grow 15% in retail and 10% in foodservice in 2026.

COLLABORATION

Collaboration remains at the heart of everything we do, and we know we can’t do this on our own. We need ranging innovation and promotional alignment from our suppliers. We need data insights and a commitment to customers from our wholesaler members. Because when we win together, everybody wins.

FOCUS ON AI

Key to our strategy is the continued development of AI, as we use data to better serve our members and their customers.

We’re constantly drawing on various data sources such as ACS (Association of Convenience Stores) and our own suppliers to make sure members are well-informed, and we believe AI will play an increasingly important role in unlocking the true potential of the independent wholesale sector.

Working closely with ShopAi, we have developed DASHAi, our internal AI business intelligence solution, to support decision-making and forecasting. We want to make sure decisions at every step are made with true insights, not guesswork.

IDENTIFYING GROWTH AREAS

We know from those insights that growth is coming from members diversifying. In the retail sector, frozen food has exploded in convenience, while grocery and chilled are expanding beyond traditional ranges.

Crucially, supplier engagement has increased significantly – in fact, the average number of suppliers that our retail members work with has increased by 76%. In foodservice, we have 140 foodservice-active members, have achieved 30% sales growth in the last 12 months and we now have visibility on £437 million in sales out data. We recognise the challenges our members and their customers face, such as skills and productivity levels in foodservice, and we’ll keep working with suppliers to provide access to products that can help overcome those challenges.

GROWING OWN BRAND

Elsewhere, we also continue to invest in our own-brand offering, including the CHEF Approved, CHEF Prestige and CLEAN Solutions ranges, offering everything from ready meals, bakery and juices to high-quality cleaning products.

At a time when caterers are repeatedly looking for value without compromising on quality, consistency or reliability, our own-brand products allow them to buy smarter, not just cheaper. These key ranges help to simplify operations across multiple channels, including pubs, cafes, education, care and contract catering, giving our members the chance to provide the right products, at the right price point, when they need them.

MARKETING SUPPORT

In addition, we’ve put a lot of focus on delivering market channels to support our members, and in particular their customers – adding value to the combined service that we can offer in partnership with members.

In retail, buyers have access to Retail Bites, a digital magazine providing industry intelligence, retail tips and category insights. In foodservice, a similar channel aimed at caterers is called Chefs’ Insider, with easy access to articles, recipes, food calendars and a gross profit calculator.

The next phase will be to roll out Retail Bites and Chefs’ Insider so that the site is hosted on our key members’ websites too, adding value to their own service and providing better access for their customers.

THE WHOLESALE GROUP

Number of members 230
Annual turnover £4.52bn

What is the greatest benefit of being a member?
No membership fees and complete transparency, backed by pioneering use of technology, exclusive ownbrand ranges, customer marketing support, industry expertise and comprehensive data insights.

What are your key areas to drive growth?
Smarter use of data and AI, strategic member recruitment, ESG leadership and deeper collaboration with our members and partners.

What makes The Wholesale Group stand out?
We are the only buying group operating at scale across retail and foodservice markets.

GET IN TOUCH

We’re committed to our members and we continue to invest in technology to support combined growth. We’re always keen to hear from independent wholesalers looking to expand into different areas and who are keen to gain access to preferential terms, pricing and promotions across every product category.

Visit thewholesalegroup.co.uk or email info@thewholesale group.co.uk