Statement from Dawood Pervez, Managing Director, Bestway Wholesale:
“Bestway always has and always will be committed to the independent retailer and local rural community shops and I know from speaking to many of you personally that thanks to your tremendous commitment to the local communities you serve, you and your teams are doing everything in your power to support those who are vulnerable and are keeping the nation fed during this COVID-19 outbreak. We share your values of providing support for communities… particularly as people look to stay as close to their homes as possible and I urge you to reach out to me personally if you feel there is more support that you need from us.
“With this commitment to your sector in mind, we are lobbying on your behalf to ensure consistent supply to rural community shops which is balanced fairly with supply to other business types. We are working with the Federation of Wholesale Distributers (FWD), DEFRA and with our media contacts to make the message loud and clear about the importance and relevance of your stores and we are reacting with speed and agility to mobilise new ways of working with our supply partners to ensure continued supply. This includes adapting to the availability of product pack sizes as manufacturers cut ranges in favour of core products and plain pack variants and collaboration with foodservice wholesalers who have inventory to sell and we’re offering to collect products from suppliers facilities to ease delivery burdens, plus adopting central delivery into one hub, which we then redistribute to ensure availability across our depot network.
“As the long-term impacts of Coronavirus are yet to be seen, we hope that the recognition of and value placed upon communities continues throughout the UK and that with this, our relationship with your stores continues to flourish.”