Retail plans in focus as Hunt's Foodservice rebrands to Hunt’s Food Group

Wholesaler Hunt’s Foodservice has rebranded as the Hunt’s Food Group to reflect its diversification and ambitious plans for the future.

While foodservice still represents more than half of the business, the wholesaler also has a broad remit supplying retail and natural products to farm shops, independent stores, coffee shops and online retailers such as Ocado and Mindful Chef among others.

“Having more to offer our existing customer base has meant we have grown volume dramatically,” said Thomas Hunt, group managing director.

“To our customers’ delight, we’re adding new lines all the time. Our customers benefit enormously from the fantastic relationships we have with them, and we have become a one-stop shop which makes their life much easier. As a result of this, we have grown turnover from £42m in 2013 to a forecasted £110m in 2022.”

The Dorset-based group’s diversification has enabled the business to become more robust by identifying areas of growth and opportunity, offering new lines such as health foods and regional products.

The company, which employs more than 600 people and a Real Living Wage accredited employer, also prides itself on being a people-first business with all senior members of the team having worked their way up through the business.

“We have always been passionate about our people and creating a positive, supportive work environment and we are continually looking for ways to ensure our team’s wellbeing, which in turn, directly benefits our customers and the business,” Hunt said.

“We also take measures to ensure our team has a health work/life balance, such as changing our order cut off time to 4pm and we no longer deliver on a Saturday as our drivers deserve weekends to spend time with their families.”

Hunt added that the business is also focussing on its environmental impact, working with specialists to lower their carbon footprint.

“We use electric and hybrid vehicles where we can, we’re installing solar panels on at our head office depot and have planted eight acres of trees. This has always been important to us as a business, but now we are focussed on it as a priority for the future,” he said.