Coronavirus UK: Food wholesalers, lockdown’s ‘best kept secret’

 JJ Foodservice 

Order online for next day delivery – depending on your location

The business who supplied Wasabi, You Me Sushi and schools are also now selling to the public. 

Sezer Ozkul, Chief Products Officer told FEMAIL: ‘Our business literally changed overnight –  on March 21st we had an emergency strategy meeting. 

‘By the end of the day, our Next Day Home Delivery Service was live, offering next day deliveries for orders placed by 9pm with a minimum order of just £79. 

‘We advertised this via a social media and the response has been extremely positive – we are taking on new customers every day and the messages to our customers services team have increased 400 per cent as more people are making inquiries about setting up a new account. 

‘This will probably come as no surprise, but our toilet roll sales increased by 150 per cent – we were selling up to five containers more per week. Pasta, hand wash and bizarrely fresh chicken sales also went up significantly. To better support households, we are increasing our range of smaller pack sizes for essential household groceries such as cheese, tea bags, fresh vegetables and fruits.  

ESSENTIALS AVAILABLE TO ORDER HERE

 Kingsmill Great Everyday Soft White Bread (Medium)-1x800g – from 99p

Lakeland Salted Butter 4x250g – from £4.99 

Fermipan Instant Yeast (Single Packets)-1x500g  – from £3.49 

Red Kidney Beans 6x800g – from £5.99 

PG Tips Tagged Tea Bags-1×100 – from £3.99 

Two litres of whole milk from 99p 

Sliced cheddar cheese, 1kg, £5.49

Innocent Drinks juices, small bottles, from £4.49 for 8 bottles (330ml) 

Fruit Shoots, from £4.49 for 24 (200ml) 

4 x Ribeye Steaks, £11.49 

Hand wash from £5.99 for 3 x 500ml

Domestos Bleach £1.99 for 750ml bottle

Wright`s Plain Flour-5×1.5kg – from £4.99

Fresh Whole Milk-(Blue Cap)-1x2L – from 99p

Nestle Shreddies (Single) 1x415g – from £.249  

Giant Avocados £9.99 for 6

Mango £5.99 for 7

Free Range Medium Eggs (Size 3)-1×60 – from £9.99

Frozen vegetables from £1.49 for 1kg 

Propercorn, 24 x 30g bags for £10.00 (46p per bag) 

Alpro Soya Milk from £1.29 carton 

Toilet Roll from £2.49 for 12 (12p each) 

Spaghetti £4.49 for 3kgs

Diet Coke, £6.89 for 24 cans (29p each)

 

Creed Foodservices

Online order for home delivery or collection in selected locations across the UK 

David Antony, from Creed Foodservices told FEMAIL they initially didn’t see a downturn in sales as a direct result of the outbreak of Covid-19.

‘However, with the forced closure of cafes, restaurants and destination leisure sites, we then saw a significant impact on our business as the majority of our customers closed their doors overnight’ he explained.

‘We have a strong customer base within the Care sector, and we are continuing to work tirelessly to ensure we’re providing them with the products they need during this uncertain time.

‘Our minimum order value is £50, and customers need to checkout their order before 4.30pm, to collect the very next day. We’re currently offering collections Monday to Friday only, but may reconsider over the coming weeks.

ESSENTIALS AVAILABLE TO ORDER HERE

 Food and Veg, mixed produce £21.69

Creed Fresh Mixed Butchery Box £25

Creed Fresh Pork Box £35

Creed Fresh Pork Box £60

Red Apples (Small) (each) £0.13 

Potatoes (2kg) £1.15

Country Range Farmhouse Ham Sliced (500g) £3.94

Gram Flour (2kg) £2.77

Walkers Crisps Variety Pack (18 Pack) £8.11

 Peppers Red (each) £0.44

Beef tomato (each) £0.83

Hass Avocado Ready To Eat (each) £0.96

Six medium free range eggs £0.92

2lt of fresh semi-skimmed milk £1.07

Country Range Salted Butter £1.24

Frozen White Bloomer (1×16) £22.25

Frozen Roberts Medium Wholemeal Sliced Loaf (8x800g) £10.96

 

Dunster Farm Food 

 Order online for next day delivery across Greater Manchester, here

 Tom Matthew, Director, Dunsters Farm said: ‘We’ve set up a B2C site for home delivery and collection – www.dunstersfarm.shop – which enables residents of Greater Manchester to purchase groceries online for either home delivery or collection from our warehouse in Bury. Our home delivery service is free for orders over £30 and there is no minimum order for collection.’

‘We lost approx. 95% of our business with the closures of schools, cafes, hospitality, etc so we had to pivot the business quickly to safeguard the future of our business and long term job security for our 50-strong team. We are proud to say that this adaptation has meant that we have retained all of our staff.’

 ESSENTIALS AVAILABLE TO ORDER HERE

 Alpro Almond milk, 1 litre, £2.30

Ambrosio Custard pot, 120 x 12g, £7.99

Baked beans, 840g, £1.40

 Arborio Rice, 1kg, £4

Bread mix, 3.5kg, £6.90

Creme Egg, 40g x 48, £24.00 

Macaroni, 3kg, £4.00 

 Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, 45g x 48, £30.84

Caster sugar, 2kg, £2.15

Granulated sugar, 1kg, £0.80 

Egg noodles, 3kg, £9.00

Extra virgin olive oil, 1 litre, £5.00

 Grated cheddar, 1kg, £4.99

Halloumi, 200g, £1.80 

 

New Covent Garden Market

After lockdown forced them to close, traders at New Covent Garden Market are selling directly to the public.

A spokesperson told Femail:   ‘The website is receiving huge amounts of traffic, with around 60,000 visiting the fruit and veg box page on the site, compared to roughly 160 hits the website usually sees! 

Order online for next day delivery, here 

All Greens

Order a fruit & vegetable box for £30, or an exotic fruit box for £30. Milk, eggs and bread will also be an option when you add a box to your cart. Free shipping for all orders over £30.

EuroFrutta

Three sizes of fruit and vegetable boxes are available, with free delivery on all orders within the London area. The Essential add-on box is perfect for the individual or couple, priced at £15. 

It contains one loaf of bread; one four-pint milk; one greek-style yoghurt; one butter; 12 eggs; and one four-pint freshly-squeezed orange juice. The Fruit and Vegetable box is £25 and recommended for a smaller household, with an assortment of fruit and vegetables. 

The Large Fruit and Vegetable box is £50 and recommended for a large household, offering an assortment of fruit and vegetables.

Fresh Connect

 A free door-step delivery service, with a minimum £30 order. Offering fresh fruit and vegetables, dry goods, dairy, pasta as well as home essentials.

Link Class

Offering fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, eggs and dairy. Linkclass offer three essential boxes: small fruit and veg box £25; large fruit and veg box £45; dairy box £15.

 Order online for home delivery in here

Butler’s Larder
Order online for home delivery in Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside and West Yorkshire here 

 Fruit & Veg (Ribble Farm Fare)

A selection made up for you –

Family Fruit Box £9.50

Family Veg Box £15

Or make your own box –

Garlic 70p

Aubergine £1

Blackberries £3

Blueberries £2

Carrot 16p

Cherry Tomatoes £1.90

Closed Cup Mushrooms (500g) £1.75

Courgette 90p

Cucumber £1

Melon £2.20

Grapes (500g) £2.30

Iceberg Lettuce £1.50

Kiwi 45p

Large Avocado £1.90

Large Fairtrade Banana Bunch £1.90

Leek 70p

Lemon 60p

Lime 40p

Mango £1.85

Onion 30p

Pear 35p

Pepper Green/Red/Yellow 80p

Pineapple £2.30

Plum 40p

Apple 35p

Satsuma 30p

Mawson’s Cordial (various flavours) 500g £4.20

Wild Fox Gin (various) 70cl £37

York Cocoa Works Classic Hot Chocolate from £2.50

 Meat (Anderton’s Butchers)

A selection made up for you –

Family Meat Box £65

Luxury Meat Box £75

Or make your own box –

1kg sausages £7.23

1kg stewing steak £10.30

1kg minced beef £6.86

Large Whole Chicken £9.74

2 x 225g lamb chops £9.75

2kg topside of beef £20.05

1kg diced pork £7.19

1kg diced lamb £18.25

1kg diced chicken breast £8.93

10 x 200g chicken fillets £20.26

Boneless rolled leg of lamb 1.6kg £25

1kg bacon £6.34

5 x pork steaks £7.25 

Cheese Essentials Box (4 cheeses) £10

Luxury Cheese Box (4 cheeses) £12 

6 Free Range Eggs £1.50

Salted or Unsalted Butter £250g £2

Ann Forshaw’s Farmhouse Yoghurts (mixed flavours and sizes) from £1.20

Selection of cheeses from Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses from £2.25 including Blacksticks Blue, £2.50

Milk (2 litre) £1.50

Ollie’s Orchard Ashmead’s Kernal Apple Juice 750ml £3

Silver & Green Olives £2.99 

Y-Tea Biodegradable Pyramid Tea Bags x 15 (Breakfast, Earl Grey, Mint or Green) £4.20

Bruce & Luke’s Coffee (ground or whole bean) 500g £9.50 

Birchalls Food and Drink 

Order online for home delivery here

Lasagne sheets,  6x 500g, £7.52 

Dr Oetker Wellcare Chocolate Cake Mix, 1kg, £24.44 

Country Range Chocolate Muffin Mix 4 x 3.5kg,  £43.52 

Blanched Almonds, 1kg, £25.77

Country Range Easy Cook Long Grain Rice, 5kg, £5.00

 Weetabix ‘A’ Pack, 6 x 48,  £34.52

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes., 1 x 10kg,  £32.72

 Kellogg’s Coco Pops Bag Pack, 4 x 500g, £11.41

Cupboard

4 x brown or white barmcakes £1.50

4 x teacakes £2

White or wholemeal loaf, £1.50

The Bee Centre Local Countryside honey from £6.95

Studio Bakery fresh homemade flapjacks, rocky roads or brownies £1.80

Choc Amor Chocolate (various flavours) 100g £3.50

Fiddler’s crisps sharing bags (various flavours) £150 £2

Funky Nut Company nut butters, various, from £2.99

Strong white bread flour, 16kg, £8.39

Country Range Plain Flour, 16kg, £7.20

McDougall Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix, 4 x 3.5kg, £45.76

Haribo Chamallows, 12 x 160g, £10.86

Coconut Chips,  1kg, £8.55 

Tilda Arborio Risotto Rice, 2 x 5kg, £30 

Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes, 4 x 500g, £11.41

Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, 1 x 10kg, £44.12

 Cupboard

Lakeland Mues Muesli (various) 500g, £5.95

Nelstrop Flour Millers plain or SR flour 1.5kg £2.25

Nowt Poncy pasta and sauces, from £3.50

Peter’s Yard crackers, various, from £2.95

Wignalls YALLO oils from £4.50

Yockenthwaite porridge oats and granola (various) from £3.50

York Cocoa Works 70g chocolate bar (35%, 45% and 72%) £3.50

 Hawkshead Relishes (various) from £2.75

La Tua Pasta 

Order online for delivery in London here

Patricia Adrian-Hanson Director of La Tua Pasta told FEMAIL they lost 80 per cent of their business when restaurants closed, but were offering to customers within five days.

‘Early on in this crisis, we decided we were going to fight for our business because we wanted to save our team and very importantly because we made it our mission to continue to feed people across the country. As elements of the normal food supply chain started to crumble for the NHS we also said whatever we could do to sustain the frontline heroes – we would do it.

‘At first friends started to contact us as they had set up a crowd funded charity called “Frontline NHS Fund”, then we reached out to the Conduit Club, Rocket Catering + other large hospital caterers to see how we could work together, and now we’re donating hundreds of meals every week to four different hospitals. 

‘Every time someone places an order with us we donate another meal + we also give anyone from the NHS 50% off any purchase from our site. We will not be beaten, we’re keeping the pasta rolling + we’re aiming to provide 10,000 meals to the NHS. 
 

ESSENTIALS AVAILABLE TO ORDER

 Spinach & Ricotta Tortelloni, £5.50 for 250g

Black Truffle & Ricotta Tortelloni, £7 for 250g

Braised Wild Boar Tortelloni, £7 for 250g

Pumpkin & Ricotta Ravioli, £17 for 1kg

Tagliatelle, £6 for 500g

Mini macaroni, £10 for 1kg

Fresh Genoese Pesto Sauce, £3.50 for 90g

Artisan Tomato Sauce, £3.50 for 270g

 Pappardelle, £3 for 250g

Volcano Coffee Works

Order online for home delivery

Emma Loisel, is co-founder and chair, of Volcano Coffee Works, which supplied more than 350 cafes, restaurants and hotels across the UK and in Paris.

‘We already sold direct to consumer, but it was less than 2 per cent of our overall revenue. Online sales via our website have grown by 680 per cent in three weeks – but it’s still less than 10 per cent of our revenues before Covid-19,’ she said.

‘Consumers buying for home use order small quantities – either a couple of 200kg bags or a 1 kg bag.

‘Packing and posting a much higher quantity of orders is labour intensive and time consuming, we are having to quickly establish new working practices and processes to make sure we can fill these orders. If consumers could do one order for their coffee needs for the next few weeks that will help us and Royal Mail keep up.’

ESSENTIALS AVAILABLE TO ORDER HERE

 The Mount Blend, Ground coffee, £6.00 for 200g

Bold Morning Shot Coffee Beans, £6.00 for 200g

Bold Morning Shot (Nespresso Compatible Eco Coffee Pods) £26.00 for 40 pods

Savona Foodservice

 Order online for home delivery here

 Canned Goods 

Dried Goods Sauces & Dressings 

Soups, Stocks & Gravies Preserves, Pickles,

 Antipasti 

Oils & Fats 

Dairy & Desserts 

Baking 

Biscuits & Cakes 

Snacks & Confectionery

 Dairy 

Eggs 

Butters, 

Fats & Spreads 

Salads

 Fillings & Dips Cooked / Cured Meats & Pâté Meat   

Assorted Dispensers & Pumps Containers 

 Meat Meal Solutions 

Bakery 

Fruit, Veg & Nuts 

Buffet & Starters 

Meat & Poultry 

Fish & Seafood Chips

Potato & Rice 

Desserts 

Drinks

Mixes & Ice 

Fruit 

Vegetables 

Herbs 

Coffee, Tea & Other Beverages 

Chilled Drinks 

Soft Drinks

Alcohol Disposables 

Workwear, PPE & Safety Supplies

Woods Foodservice 

Order over the phone or by email for next day delivery in London and delivery within a few days across the South East 

Darren Labbett the managing director of Woods Foodservice said: ‘We bought in fresh fruit, vegetables, salad and fresh meat boxes to be able to offer a one stop shop, these are very popular. However, it seems that everybody wants toilet rolls and pasta. Luckily we have plenty of both,’ Mr Labbett explained. 

He added that they’ve seen sales of bread flour and yeast shoot up, as people try and make their own bread and cakes at home.

‘As our turnover increases we are able to gradually ask furloughed staff to come back to ensure we keep up with demand.’

ESSENTIALS AVAILABLE TO ORDER HERE

FRESH MEAT BOX MEDIUM, £29.99

1 X 500g Minced Beef

2 X Chicken Breasts

1 X 6 Butchers Sausages

375g Bacon (Roughly 7 Rashes)

2 X Chicken Legs

3 X 6oz Pork Steaks

FRESH MEAT BOX LARGE, £43.99

2 X 500g Minced Beef

4 X Chicken Breasts

2 X 6 Butchers Sausages

750g Bacon (Roughly 14 Rashes)

4 X Chicken Legs

5 X 6oz Pork Steaks

FRESH MEAT BOX MEDIUM inc

GLUTEN FREE SAUSAGES, £44.99

1 X 500g Minced Beef

2 X Chicken Breasts

1 X 6 Gluten Free Sausages

375g Bacon (Roughly 7 Rashes)

2 X Chicken Legs

3 X 6oz Pork Steaks

FRESH MEAT BOX LARGE (no pork)

2 x 500g British Prime Minced Beef

1 x 4 approx 200g each Skinless Chicken Breasts

500g-700g Diced Leg and Shoulder of Lamb

1 x 4 English Grade A Whole Chicken Legs

500g Marinated Diced Chicken

900g – 1.1kg Rolled Lamb Breast

FRESH SALAD BOX, £11.99

60g Mixed Leaf

1 Cucumber – Large

1 Red Pepper – Large

1 Yellow Pepper – Large

250g Beetroot Vac Pack

2 Red Onions 

 

 MEDIUM VEG BOX, £11.99

600g Carrots

6 Baker 50′

600g Onions UK

1 Savoy

600g Parsnips

LARGE VEG BOX, 14.99

1Kg Carrots

10 Baker 50′

1kg Onions UK

1 Savoy each

750g Parsnips

600g Swede

1 Large Cauliflower 

600g Swede

1 Garlic Bulb

1 Cauliflower

250g Courgette

1 Radish Pre Pack

1 Bunch of Spring Onions

1 Speciality Tomatoes Punnet

1 Cocktail Fine Tomatoes Punnet

(Will change to Twin Beef Tomato)

350g Broccoli

1 Garlic Bulb

350g Leeks

2 Courgettes (500g)

2 Red Onion (200g)

125g Baby Corn

FRUIT BOX

4 Conference Pear

1 Strawberries Punnet

1 Bunch Black Grapes

4 Braeburn

4 Granny Smith

1 Bunch Bananas  

4 Kiwi

3 Passion Fruit

4 Plum

1 Melon Medium

Honey, Galia or Cantaloupe) 

Dunns Food and Drink 

Order online or via the app for deliveries across Scotland 

Milk 2L £1.35

Bacon 2.27kg £7.69

Morning Rolls 1×6 £0.70

Thick White Sliced Loaf 800g £1.10

Wholemeal Med Sliced Bread 800g £1.10

Chopped Tomatoes 800g £0.78

Tomato Puree 800g £1.08

Unsalted Butter 250g £1.27

Macaroni 3kg £2.74

Short Spaghetti 3kg £2.75

Easy Cook Long Grain Rice 5kg £4.63

Grated White Cheddar 1kg £4.40

Grated Red Cheddar 1kg £4.61

Chilled Chicken Fillets 5kg £19.50

Mini Jumbo Toilet Roll 2ply 150x95mm 1×12 £11.35 

Julie Dunn told FEMAIL her family run business lost 70 per cent of business when the lockdown hit.

The company, supply the prestigious Gleneagles golf course as well as DiMaggios, Montpeiirs and Hawksmoor restaurants. 

Ms Dunn said people are buying cleaning materials and toilet rolls, bread, milk, eggs, sugar, flour, butter, pasta, and wine but their luxury food items are not being purchased. 

‘We have been surprised by the number of people interested in catering pack sizes – so – perfectly happy to take 16kg of flour in order to bake for their neighbours. Nice community spirit. 

‘Although most callers are looking for the staples just now, possibly once we are all more used to life in isolation, home cooking will be a pleasant time filler for the family which is why we are posting recipe ideas every day through social media because with 6,500 lines available it is most probable that the home cooks can achieve a global kitchen through Dunns.’ 

ESSENTIALS AVAILABLE TO ORDER HERE

Bidfood 

Order online for next day delivery, depending on location, or click and collect 

Bidfood one of the UK’s largest foodservice providers was forced to change its business model overnight to support the growing demand for supplies during the Covid-19 outbreak.  

Earlier this month, Bidfood and Brakes  announced they would be joining forces to support a new government initiative to ensure that vital food supplies reach the country’s most vulnerable people during the coronavirus crisis.

The initiative sees the two companies working together to deliver potentially hundreds of thousands of weekly care packages across the country to people at high risk from the virus, who are not able to get easy access to food.

ESSENTIALS AVAILABLE TO ORDER HERE

Fruit and vegetables 

Potato products

Range of fresh fruit

Range of fresh vegetables

Chips and fries

Delicatessen 

Cooked meats

Continental meats

Pate and terrines

Sandwich fillings

Prepared Salads

Olives and antipasti

Dairy and eggs 

Butter

Cheese

Milk

Cream

Eggs

Yoghurt 

Bakery 

 Traditional and speciality bread

Baguettes

Pannini, Ciabatta Focaccia

Bread rolls

Burger buns 

Naan, pitta, flatbread and tortillas

English muffins

Crumpets

Bagels

Pretzels

Cakes and bakes 

Drinks 

Tea

Coffee 

 Sports and energy drinks

Fruit drinks

Adult soft drinks

Fruit juice and smoothies

Squashes and cordial 

 Meat and fish

Beef

Lamb

Pork

Poultry 

Sausages  

 White fish

Salmon

Smoked fish

Speciality fish

Breaded and butter fish

Coated fish

Prawns and shellfish 

Everyday essentials 

 Breakfast essentials

Preserves, honeys and spreads

Baking ingredients and desserts 

Gravy, bouillon and stock

Soup 

Pulses, rice, noodles and pasta

Cooking sauces

Condiments and sauces

Herbs, spices and oils 

Desserts 

 Cakes

Ice cream

Cheesecake

Brownies

Pancakes and crepes

Waffles

Snacks 

 Biscuits

Crackers

Protein bars

Cereal bars

Flapjacks

Muffins

Cakes

Crisps and popcorn 

Oncore Foodservice

Order online for delivery across the North West here

Rob Coupe, director of Oncore foodservices, said the supplier set up a delivery service through DPD to selling meat boxes and deli boxes to customers.

The Preston-based supplier usually sell to  care homes, restaurants, pubs, nurseries,  hotels, and work canteens.

Sales have gone up about 10 per cent since introducing Farm2Fork, which sends deli boxes to people’s homes.  

Fresh Pastures 

Order online for delivery in selected postcodes across the north of England here 

Dawn Carney, Managing Director of Fresh Pastures, told Femail: ‘Fresh Pastures has changed rapidly since the Covid-19 lockdown. Traditionally we are a distribution business that supplies 3,000 schools and public venues with milk and morning goods. But, when schools and leisure businesses closed, 97% of our business ceased.’

‘We had no choice; to survive, we had to think innovatively and change our entire operation overnight. So we focused on our distribution infrastructure, knowing that it could play a vital role in supporting our society to ensure children, the vulnerable, the elderly and those self-isolating could receive nutritious food during the coronavirus crisis.’

‘That was three weeks ago and our business continues to change daily. Within the first few days, we had set up an e-commerce site to support an online delivery service; this has seen us extend our business network to include care homes and also homes for the very first time. We also secured lunchbox contracts with local authorities still supporting youngsters in schools.’

‘Within a week we introduced other produce, such as veg boxes. We are now working towards delivering a wide variety of daily essentials including tea, coffee and flour. By moving quickly and working collaboratively, we are proving that businesses like ours can provide essential support under extreme pressures and rapidly changing circumstances to play a vital part in helping our communities through this extraordinary period.’