Why Open Days matter: discover, connect, and grow your food offer

At a recent open day, our Corporate Account Manager, Caroline Brown, caught up with Gary Webster, Business Development Manager at Bestway Retail. Here's what he had to say about his visit.

“I have come to the open day to discuss how we can build on a strong sales performance and how we can build on the success of our business collaboration so far. I also find days like this extremely useful when it comes to identifying new products that will help us to continue growing our hot food offer.

One of the concepts I have specifically come to see is ‘Boston’s’ doughnuts, which we are launching in the coming weeks. I am also very interested in the Go Global range, the updated point-of-sale material, and the flexibility of the new ‘Savour It’ products which can be sold either hot or cold, which could potentially make them ideal for the coffee shop opportunities that we are currently exploring.

Thanks to our close collaboration with Caroline, and the Country Choice team as a whole, we’ve achieved a 28% growth in sales of hot food since March 2024. Key to this has been targeting customers with the right products, a strategy that has enabled us to significantly increase sales volume whilst simultaneously creating further hot food opportunities. It’s days like today where we have the opportunity to look at new products and concepts that will allow us to increase sales even more and for that reason alone, they are really important.

But it’s not just about the products. We value the open, honest, and trusted relationship we have with Caroline. Having a longstanding account manager makes a huge difference as each of us understands the other’s business and that allows us to work together effectively to achieve our common objectives. From the ease of setting up supply to their engagement with pricing strategies, they are an excellent fit for us and that’s why they have become one of our key retail partners.’