Local food sourcing puts regional retailer in running for national award
Regional retailer @eoecoop in running for national @RWSCA2014 award for local food sourcing initiative #HRWSCA
The East of England Co-op has been shortlisted for a national award in recognition of its innovative Sourced Locally supply chain, which provides shoppers with a fresh choice of locally-sourced produce on a daily basis.
The independent retailer’s ability to have products delivered direct to store, straight from the fields and factories of local producers across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, has led to it being shortlisted in The Hermes Retail Week Supply Chain Awards 2014.
Kevin Warden, Local and Fresh Food Manager at the East of the England Co-op, explained: “One of the key reasons we established our Sourced Locally initiative was to ensure we could offer truly local produce, fresh food which hasn’t travelled around the country to packaging and distribution centres, or been subject to extensive refrigeration. We work with our local suppliers to ensure they can deliver their products direct to stores in their community. This means we can have products such as fresh fruit and vegetables on our shelves the same day as they’ve been picked from local fields.”
This local sourcing process has resulted in the East of England Co-op being selected as finalists in the Supply Chain Sourcing Initiative category of the Retail Week awards. The judges, including representatives from the likes of Harrods and Monsoon, were looking for sourcing strategies which had not only improved lead times and product quality, but which had also resulted in significant business benefits for all involved.
Kevin added: “We currently work with over 140 suppliers in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex and more than three quarters confirmed that this has had a positive impact on their financial performance, and almost three in five said it has helped them to secure local jobs. It also continues to benefit our own business, and our members who share in our profits, as we saw a 30% increase in Sourced Locally sales last year. ”
The organisers of the awards have reported a record number of entries this year, and with 14 awards in total the East of England Co-op team will join representatives from other finalists including John Lewis, Harvey Nichols, Tesco and Sainsburys at a prestigious event at the London Hilton on 25 September.
