The Wholesale Group (TWG) has hinted at the launch of an own label range within its retail division as part of its ambition to grow wholesale membership collective turnover to £5bn by 2027.
The buying group was formed at the start of the year following the merger of Confex and Fairway Foodservice, with the new company now covering both the convenience and foodservice sectors.
“The retail own label is not confirmed yet, but we’re already working with some of our membership and suppliers to see what would be possible and if it makes sense,” said managing director- foodservice Coral Rose. We’re going to be strategic, wait for the right opportunity and discuss with all parties first.”
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The buying group already has a ‘Chef Assured’ own brand range within its foodservice division. “Last time we looked, 85 of our foodservice range products would work in retail, so we already have some of the frameworks in place,” managing director Tom Gittins explained.
During 2025, The Wholesale Group has achieved:
Increased group performance +6.51%
225 active members
398 active suppliers
Increased average spend per member + 14.5%
The Wholesale Group members provide more than 27,000 local jobs
He added that the synergy between the two divisions has allowed TWG to also understand how certain foodservice products perform in convenience environments: “Our retail wholesalers are now buying more products like a 2.5kg bag of chips and I think that’s a result off factors such as the cost-of-living crisis.”
Chairman Mark Aylwin added: “In foodservice, own brand is commonplace and the great thing about the chefs is that if they like a product, they’ll continue to buy it. However, retail is more about value which is something we must think about.
“Sometimes an own-brand range can be an ego trip for wholesalers, with certain businesses running headfirst into a full range when they should instead be identifying the specific products that will do well and work from there. So, it may be a case that we start with tertiary and scale up,” he added.
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The buying group also hinted at plans to expand its alcohol offering using a secondary wholesale method from its 70 members who already sell within the category. As well as this, the business also plans to expand its relationships with the big alcohol producers, according to managing director Jess Douglas. “The big brewers always want to sell in large volume, but now we have enough demand in our membership we’ll be reengaging with some of the big alcohol suppliers in 2026.”
The Wholesale Group has 111 of what is classes as ‘retail wholesalers’ with cash and carry operations covering 25 of these but counting toward over a third of retail collective turnover. “The one clear difference between us and other buying groups is that we do foodservice and retail, and each one has its own management team and board,” said Rose, “we recognise the needs of both and have the synergy of buying together.”
