Speaker line-up revealed for FWD’s conference
A stellar line-up of wholesalers leads FWD’s sold-out annual conference at St George’s Park, Burton-on-Trent on October 14.
Headline sponsored by American Express, ‘Bringing Wholesale Together’ does exactly that – it’s the first face-to-face gathering of FWD’s wholesaler, supplier and service provider members since 2019. It comes at the perfect moment to review the seismic changes of the past 18 months and discuss the sector’s response to the current challenges, while giving the supplier audience invaluable insight into wholesalers’ vision for their businesses in 2022 and beyond.
Among those taking the stage to reveal their plans for the year ahead will be Sue Knowles of Costco, Neil Turton and Yulia Petit of Sugro, Unitas MD John Kinney and Hugo Mahoney, CEO of Brakes Group. They will be joined by a panel of some of the biggest names in wholesale, including Bestway’s Dawood Pervez, Andrew Selley of Bidfood, Country Range MD Coral Rose and Unitas Chairman Mark Aylwin.
Wholesalers from across the UK will be introducing their businesses and offering advice for suppliers on how to make the most of partnerships in the sector. These include Hills Prospect, Woods Foodservice, Dunsters Farm and Thomas Ridley.
The event will also explore some of the biggest opportunities for the sector, with a focus on the move into digital sales which has increased enormously during the pandemic. Based around brand new research by Mirakl into wholesalers’ adoption and experience of e-commerce, and backed by customer and consumer insight from Lumina Intelligence’s Blonnie Whist, we will look at emerging trends and success stories with Blakemore’s James Russell, Red Bull’s Lotte Tregear representing the E-Wholesale Collective and Marcus Vallance of SalesOut.
Tanya Pepin of TWC and Bestway’s Kenton Burchell will combine to examine the need to provide healthy food options in wholesale in anticipation of restrictions on high fat, salt and sugar products, and how suppliers and wholesalers can see this as an opportunity rather than an obligation.
Elit Rowland will reveal how the Women in Wholesale initiative is driving diversity and inclusion in the sector through its events and reports.
The event at St George’s Park, Burton-on Trent is co-sponsored by AG Barr, Britvic Soft Drinks, Cerve, DCS Group, JTI, Kellogg’s, Lumina Intelligence, Mirakl, Molson Coors, PepsiCo, Premier Foods, SalesOut, TWC and Unilever Food Solutions.
With more than 320 delegates registered the event is now sold out but there is a waiting list for anyone who would like to attend – contact nikki@fwd-uk.com
Bestway Bidfood Brakes Bringing Wholesale Together Costco Country Range Group FWD FWD conference Sugro Unitas
