Booker has launched a brand-new ordering platform exclusively for its symbol group retailers to help them deliver local groceries to their customers’ doors, in as little as 30 minutes.
The new ordering platform, Scoot, connects shoppers with their local participating independent retailer enabling them to order food, drinks and household essentials from a curated list of products chosen by the retailer.
Scoot facilitates the processes of ordering, payment, and picking processes, leaving the retailers solely responsible for organising the delivery, whether they handle it in-house or use third party.
Scoot is currently piloting in Budgens Abridge with the aim to pilot another three stores in February and March. The platform will be phased out more widely to Booker symbol group retailers – across Budgens, Premier, Londis and Family Shopper from April 2025.
The low-cost ordering platform builds on Booker’s commitment to support independent retailers in growing their business – offering the convenience of home delivery allows these retailers to reach new customers within their local community and help them increase sales opportunities.
Retailers also benefit from being able to set their own delivery, service and minimum order charges, which can vary dependent on location.
Retailers within Booker’s symbol groups that sign up to Scoot will receive a launch support package worth over £2800 – including point of sale, digital assets and thermal delivery bags.
All stores can take advantage of upweighted marketing support including targeted social media adverts, and a contribution towards a full promotional wrap for their delivery vehicle.
Colm Johnson, Managing Director for Booker Retail said: “We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to help our customers grow their business, so we are incredibly proud to announce the launch of our new delivery platform, Scoot, to support them in doing just that.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for our retailers to increase their basket spend, store sales and connect with new and existing shoppers in their local communities.
"The feedback from our pilot test has been really positive and we look forward to welcoming more retailers to the P over the next few months.”
Goran Raven, Director for Budgens Abridge said, "I am thrilled to be partnering with Booker who are enabling me to offer a new service to my customers.
"It is not only appealing to my existing customer base, but it will also help me recruit new customers. This is a fantastic opportunity and a big win for me.”
Sugro UK, the member-owned buying and marketing group, announced the expansion of its membership with the addition of Manchester-based wholesaler Eurotrade Limited as a new Member to the group.
Established in 1983, family-run business Eurotrade originated from modest roots, operating from a small shop in Manchester which sold novelty items to retailers, cash and carries, and smaller wholesalers.
In 2010, Eurotrade expanded their operations by relocating to a 30,000 sq. ft. warehouse and broadening their product offering to include a variety of food and beverage lines.
Today, Eurotrade offers wholesale delivery services across a diverse range of products including confectionery, soft drinks, household goods and toiletries, and select ambient grocery items.
Pritesh Mehta, Director of Eurotrade Ltd, said, “At Eurotrade, we are thrilled to become part of the Sugro Family. This partnership will allow us to expand our product portfolio and offer an even wider range to our customers.
"We look forward to building a strong relationship with the Sugro team and leveraging their resources to further grow our business and better serve our customers.”
Sugro’s Business Development Manager, Shruti Senapati, added, “We are excited to welcome Eurotrade to our expanding Sugro family.
"We look forward to helping drive their growth and creating new opportunities by leveraging the Group’s buying power, promotions, digital initiatives, and robust supplier network to deliver mutual benefits.”
Food and drink wholesale distribution sector generated £33.6 billion of turnover in 2023-24 with £17.5 billion coming from sales to mainly independent retailers, reveals an industry report released today (5).
The report was launched in the Houses of Parliament in the presence of Daniel Zeichner, Minster for Food Security and Rural Affairs.
Zeichner said, " “This report highlights just how important the wholesale sector is. These are really significant numbers. Economic growth is absolutely central to wholesale businesses, as is breaking down the barriers to opportunity.
"Our pledge to you is to work with you as we begin to develop our policies. Our stated goal is to try and help change the way the supply chain operates to make sure there is a fair distribution of resources through the supply chain, and I really look forward to working with the wholesale sector on this.”
Retail businesses account for 52 per cent of food and drink wholesalers' revenue, while foodservice and caterers account for 29 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.
Delivery remains the most common route to customers with 58 per cent of sales value fulfilled through deliveries. 40 per cent of sales value fulfilled through cash and carry and 1.3 per cent of sales are made through click and collect.
In total, wholesalers spent £27 billion on stock to be sold to retailers and foodservice providers. The largest product categories were tobacco, vaping and alcohol, followed by soft drinks, frozen food, confectionery, crisps, snacks and biscuits.
The report states that food and drink wholesale distributors directly contributed £3.5bn to national output in terms of gross value, employing 77,000 people. The overall value chain that it supports employs a total of 1.5 million people, about 4.8 per cent of the UK workforce.
The sector faces a series of challenges going ahead, highlighted the report through a recent survey of FWD's members. Some of the main concerns among the wholesalers are inflation, increase in transportation costs, labour and skill shortage and regulations.
Wholesale warehouse
iStock image
AI and automation hold significant potential to positively impact the sector like in identifying the wallet share gaps and predicting reorder needs . However, the report states that companies are yet not fully embracing these technologies, saying "no distributor has integrated AI into its operation to a great extent".
60 per cent of the respondents indicated they have incorporated AI into supply chain management.
FWD reiterates in the report to reach net zero Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2040, which will require 90 per cent reduction in emissions and coordinated actions across value chains.
Furthermore, the sector is facing labour shortage stemming from ageing workforce, Brexit, images issues and competition.
"The sector's image poses a challenge in attracting new recruits as over 90 per cent of people never consider a career in logistics", states the report, mentioning terms like "demanding" and "boring" associated with warehouse work.
Speaking at the launch, FWD head of external affairs Lyndsey Cambridge said, “Wholesalers are the lifeblood of the nation – from supporting high street restaurants to supplying hospitals, schools and local retailers with food, the FWD membership is delivering for people across the length and breadth of the UK.
"This groundbreaking research provides a comprehensive economic impact of food and drink wholesale, demonstrating the value and importance of the sector in improving consumer choice through its support for retailers and caterers.
“Given its reach and contribution, our sector has and will play a pivotal role in driving economic growth in the coming years. We look forward to partnering with policymakers across the UK to grow our industry further while meeting the everyday challenges our members face in areas such as increased transport costs and labour shortages.”
Buying group Unitas has announced year on year growth in both retail and on-trade in its recently organised supplier event.
The announcement came during the Unitas Wholesale Senior Supplier Briefing, where the group revealed impressive growth figures despite a challenging year for the wholesale sector.
The buying group stated that it achieved a 2 per cent growth in retail and a 5.1 per cent year-on-year increase in on-trade sales, both surpassing overall market performance.
Managing Director John Kinney shared that the group delivered a 17 per cent revenue increase for its members in 2024, with a staggering 35 per cent growth since its formation in 2018.
“While there is no doubt 2025 is going to be a tough year with rising costs, these examples prove how this channel remains an efficient and excellent route-to-market for our suppliers’ products, and those suppliers who work with us to drive awareness and distribution really do reap the rewards,” said Kinney.
To further reward member engagement, Kinney announced an additional £2 million bonus fund, aimed at incentivising participation in group-wide promotions, materials, and events.
Among the standout partnerships were PepsiCo Walkers’ Flamin’ Hot activation which delivered £300000 of sales at the Unitas trade show, and Suntory’s Blucozade which saw Unitas members exceeding all expectations and selling out in the first six weeks of launch to deliver an additional £1.7m in sales.
Trading Director Cheryl Hope praised Swizzels for its fabulous digital execution across depots and members’ digital platforms and Premier Foods’ summer BBQ activations which delivered a huge 92 per cent value and 106 per cent volume growth.
Data from TWC showed that Unitas had outperformed the convenience market in Biscuits (+ 82 per cent), Confectionery (9.1 per cent) Crisps, Snacks and Nuts (+2.2 per cent) and Soft Drinks (+6.8 per cent). Vape and reduced risk were up 32.5 per cent and RTDs up 9.2 per cent.
Interim Chairman Dr Jason Wouhra OBE added, “Our size and scale means that from corner shops to hospitality, our wholesaling members are at the forefront of the food and drink industry – and the UK economy as a whole.”
The event was received positively by suppliers who were quick to praise the group’s collaborative approach.
Hancocks, the UK’s leading confectionery wholesaler, has expanding its Watford deport and added over 50 new lines.
The new space will add around 600 square feet of selling space to the depot on Colonial Way, which has been in Watford for over 20 years.
Over 50 new lines are being added and are focused across popular sweets for children, novelty sweets, and pick and mix.
Hancocks said this will mean over 5,000 additional new products on the depot shelves for customers to choose from.
The extra space will allow the store to hold more volume across key categories including pick and mix, cables, mallows, kids, novelty and seasonal items.
The depot will also have a dedicated area for clearance stock, which is new to the Watford store.
Customers will see heavily discounted prices on products including crisps and snacks, which previously haven’t been stocked by the depot and reductions on branded chocolates and drinks.
The depot will also be introducing WOW deals, with low prices on key brands including Coca Cola, Haribo bags, Swizzels, Squashies and favourites from Maynard Bassets.
The Watford branch of Hancocks serves around 200 customers a week from all over London and the surrounding areas, as well as Norfolk, Kent, Cambridgeshire, Hampshire and the Midlands.
The depot also supplies to customers based in the Bahamas, US, Bahrain, Hong Kong, and throughout Europe.
“The expansion of the store is great news for retailers from London and further afield who purchase their confectionery from this depot,” Alex Brammer, manager of Hancocks in Watford, said.
“Whether they shop in store or via click and collect, availability will be even better thanks to the additional space we have to hold products, and there will be exciting new lines for them to choose from.
“We have a wide mix of customers shopping with us here ranging from traditional sweet shops and convenience stores to funfairs, TikTok stars and repackers.
“For them, our expansion and new product lines means greater choice, even better availability and shows there really is something for everyone whether you’re looking to stock fun novelty lines, traditional sweets, pick and mix or confectionery gifts.
“We’re always keen to welcome new customers into the depot and show them the excellent range of confectionery we have available.”
Hancocks operates 14 nationwide cash and carry stores and an online channel. Customers can shop online 24/7 with delivery to the door or click and collect options.
Sugro UK, KP Snacks and b2b.store have worked together to complete the first-of-its-kind pre-sell campaign, Sugro WhatsApp E-Presell, using a wholesaler’s WhatsApp channel.
Using functionality in b2b.store’s ProConnect Platform, Sugro UK trialed the new functionality with one of the key Group Members, R&I Jones.
The messages encouraging pre-sell orders for KP Snacks’ McCoy’s Hot ‘n’ Spicy crisps were sent out to R&I Jones customers, allowing retailers to tell a wholesaler how many boxes of the product they would like to purchase.
The entire process was completed within the WhatsApp message, with only a few taps needed for a retailer to record the quantity of products they would like to order, and their customer number.
It is the first WhatsApp message of its kind to be sent in the UK’s food and drink wholesale industry but is expected to become increasingly common as more businesses use paid-for WhatsApp platforms to communicate with customers.
“We are absolutely delighted to launch Sugro WhatsApp E-Presell which enables both Sugro UK Wholesale Members as well as its Retail Partners to provide advance product volume commitments for new product launches.
"This functionality is particularly powerful as it ensures that suppliers have accurate forecasts before product launches, enabling better stock availability and distribution from day one of products being available on the market,” said Sugro UK’s Head of Commercial and Marketing Yulia Petitt.
“We’re proud that it’s Sugro member, Aled, R&I Jones who has made such an important first step in the industry’s WhatsApp usage,” added Yulia.
“The KP Snacks promotion was one agreed for all Sugro members, but R&I Jones recognised the opportunity to send this out to its customers using WhatsApp – displaying the power of their channel and getting a direct response.
“The ease and speed of using WhatsApp for these commitments simplifies the presell process, ensures accuracy, and strengthens relationships across the supply chain. It’s definitely the future.”
The message was curated with the help of b2b.store, which had developed the ability to send pre-sell promotions specifically with the wholesale sector in mind.
KP Snacks’ Business Account Manager, Adam Gibbons, was delighted that the McCoy’s Hot ‘n’ Spicy crisps were chosen as the promotion for the pioneering WhatsApp message.
“We recognise that WhatsApp is a marketing tool that’s growing in popularity with wholesalers, so we’re always excited to see the latest developments,” said Gibbons.
“But for a KP Snacks promotion to be the focus of the message is especially notable for us, and we’d like to think that more will follow as the pre-sell functionality becomes more universally available in the future.”