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The Interview - Empire Food Brokers - Your entry into a world of fine flavours

Empire Food Brokers is one of the UK's leading fine food importers and distributors, with an established expertise in sourcing and supplying gourmet and healthy specialist food ranges from America, Asia and Europe. Trading from modern offices and warehouse in Northolt, Middlesex the company supplies unique products across a range of categories including gourmet snacks, confectionery, condiments and health foods. The Grocery Trader spoke to Founder and Managing Director, Chandresh Patel. The Grocery Trader - When did you set up Empire Food Brokers and what was your background and experience? I was working with my brother Jitu Patel within our family-owned retail company the Adminstore Group, a convenience retailing operation in Central London, which traded under the Europa Foods, Cullens and Harts fascias. I was involved in various aspects of the company, but my primary role was as part of the Group’s buying team, where I was responsible for sourcing kosher and speciality products from the US. I saw a real opportunity to source products previously unavailable here, so in 1997 I set up Empire Food Brokers as a separate company but under the umbrella of the Adminstore Group. GT - When did Empire Food Brokers break ties with Adminstore? In 2004, the Group was sold, which with the support of my brother Jitu Patel, allowed more time to focus on and build Empire Food Brokers as a stand-alone business. GT - Who owns the company now? When Empire Food Brokers became a private limited company in 2004, Jitu Patel and I took over 100% of the equity. GT - What is Empire Food Broker's primary focus? Our aim is to work with our partner US manufacturers to deliver unique, premium products that offer attractive margins to our customers and answer a consumer demand or need. Our customer base includes the UK major multiples, the independent sector and wholesalers and gourmet retail outlets, which includes Selfridges and Harrods. GT - What's your current UK turnover? We currently turn over £10m and have listings with ASDA, Booths, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose, Somerfield, the independent sector and wholesalers. We also have a strong presence in Harrods and Selfridges and account for 38% of Selfridges' ambient grocery range. We also supply own label Vacuum Fried Crisps to several major multiples. GT - How big a proportion of your UK turnover is retail? The majority is retail. However, since launching our reduced fat premium crisp range Terra® 50% we have seen an increased opportunity in the cost sector, catering and on-trade sectors. We intend to grow this area of our business. GT - How have you built up the company? The first brand we imported was Beech-Nut baby food, the USA's No 2 best seller and only kosher baby food brand, which we distributed to 600 chemists and kosher stores nationwide. The simplicity of the offering, a high quality ambient product made with natural ingredients, meant it was hugely successful. It set the standard for our business going forward and defined how we should manage and grow our product portfolio. GT - What was your first big brand investment? We took on the UK rights and distribution for Terra® Original Chips and Terra® 50%, which was a major undertaking. Our research showed consumers were increasingly looking to trade up in the snacking fixture, ultimately looking for unique products that deliver on taste and indulgence. The Terra® Chips range was created by two Manhattan chefs and used unusual ingredients including blue potato varieties, sweet potatoes and an unusual mix of root vegetables. The brand extension Terra® 50% delivers all the taste of the Original but is vacuum-fried, which means that it has 50% less fat. GT - What does the current range include? Our growing product range covers a selection of high quality, nutritious food and drink products. These include Terra® 50% Crisps, Mrs May's Naturals nut snacks; Beech-Nut Baby Food; No-No Flatbreads; Terra® Original Chips from the US; Mrs Elswood Cucumbers; Larabar; Nabisco Oreo Cookies and Cereal; Hershey Kisses/Bars; Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix/Syrup; Duncan Hines Cake Mixes; Betty Crocker; and Russell Stover 'No Added Sugar' Confectionery. GT - Importers are frequently responsible for introducing exciting new tastes to the UK. What food firsts have you been responsible for over the years? We were the first UK company to import the American No-No Flatbread range. The range is aimed at health-conscious consumers looking for a wholesome product that doesn’t compromise on taste. They are suitable for eating with dips or on their own, contain less than 10% fat and are Vegetarian and kosher licensed. The product has gained listings across the major multiples, fine food halls and independents. It's a great example of our commitment to finding products that target specific market sectors, whether ethnic or diet related. GT - What are your biggest brands? Which are growing the fastest? In turnover terms, Mrs Elswood Cucumbers, which accounts for 25% of the UK pickle market; and No-No Flatbreads, because they have the strongest listings. Our fastest growing brands are those that respond creatively to both consumer and government demands on health. Innovative products like Terra® 50% Crisps, which makes use of the Vacuum Frying technology; Russell Stover 'No Added Sugar' Confectionery; and Mrs May's Nuts, which provide a natural source of energy, are performing well. GT - Walkers has just launched 'Walkers Baked'. Do you see this as a threat to Empire’s Terra® 50% brand? No. Walkers Baked, made with potato flakes and baked, are a very different product to Terra® 50% Crisps, made with real potato slices and vacuum-fried. We remain confident that Terra® 50% is the best reduced fat crisp. Terra® 50% is the first and only branded crisp to offer the benefits of Vacuum Frying Technology, a process designed to retain the potatoes’ original quality and flavour with maximum crispiness and minimal fat absorption. GT - What's your latest 'Hero'? Our latest launch is Mrs May's Nuts, a range of Californian nut and seed snacks that are slowly dry roasted, given a dash of sea salt and brushed with cane juice to provide an added 'crunch.' We are seeing increased demand for snacks made with natural ingredients, and Mrs May’s with its ‘superfood’ status and exemplary health credentials: vegan, non-GMO, cholesterol free, dairy free, wheat free; no artificial colours or flavours, fits the bill perfectly. Our research indicates the brand will continue to perform well, driving growth in the added-value nut sector. GT - Do you think the ongoing health debate will make people shun indulgent snack products altogether, or search for healthier alternatives? Consumers will unquestionably always demand 'treat' items. There's a whole 'sweet snack' sector confronting the health debate head on, by producing a range of alternative products that taste as good, if not better than the standard i.e. full fat, no added-sugar equivalents. On this basis, we see huge retail opportunities for products like Russell Stover, which in the US has racked up sales of over $500m and has 50% of the sugar free sector. The range is ideal for people trying to cut calories in their diet, without feeling they are missing out. GT - Mrs Elswood products carry the 'KLBD' kosher symbol. Are you planning any more kosher food launches? We are in discussions with a number of manufacturers and will be extending our kosher offering as appropriate products become available. Kosher manufactured products are perceived generally to hold a high mark of safety and health. GT - Which are your best selling kosher lines? Mrs Elswood Cucumbers, the leading UK pickled cucumber brand, which commands a 25% share of the pickle market worth around £8 million a year; then the Telma and Manischewitz brands. GT - How many staff do you employ? Here we employ 12 people and three sales consultants, headed up by our UK Sales Director, Peter Hopkins. In our US office, we have a team of five, whose sole focus is to source new products. GT - How does the UK sales operation work? We have separate sales teams servicing the multiples, independents, wholesalers and gourmet retail outlets. Our consultants call each of our customers at the beginning of each week, to monitor sales, update them on new product lines and get any feedback. GT - Do you manage the whole supply chain? We manage the whole supply chain, but sub-contract distribution to a third-party haulage company. GT - What UK warehouse and storage facilities do you have? We have our own 40,000 square foot warehouse at our head office site in Northolt. GT - How does the relationship work with the brands you represent? We own Mrs Elswood Cucumbers and have contracts for a number of key brands, which give us sole UK import rights. These comprise Terra® Chips and Terra® 50% Crisps, licensed by the Hain Celestial Group Inc; No-No Flatbreads; Beech-Nut Baby Food; Larabar; Mrs May's Nuts; Russell Stover; Jollytime Microwave Popcorn; and Durkee Marshmallow Fluff. Other large brands, like Nabisco, Hershey, Aunt Jemima and Pieffer, are not exclusive to us but extend our product portfolio. GT - Did you approach your brand-owner partners, or did they approach you? It works in a number of ways. We're seen as the top supplier of American fine food products, so get approached by a large number of brands keen to succeed in the UK. As well as constantly researching new products to broaden and enhance our offering, we also get asked by customers to source and import specific brands, particularly from the US. GT - How do you decide whether a brand is suitable to take on? It has to offer something genuinely different. We try and help retailers make the most of their categories, by combining their core ranges with our selection of niche, unique brands. The brands must add value to a retailer's range and provide differentiation. The products are premium priced before import, so we are unable to compete on, or use price as a USP. GT - How do you go about bringing the product to market? We have our own office that manages all sourcing, UK legal compliant labeling and the consolidation of shipments, to ensure all imports are financially viable and sustainable, and suitable for UK retail. All brands also receive ongoing PR and marketing support. GT - Have you got the capacity to take on more brands? Would you take on any UK-based brands? Absolutely, especially as we now have the resources previously split between Empire Food Brokers and the Adminstore Group. Our strategy is to double sales every two years, through organic growth and acquisitions. I want to do more work with clients to develop US lines in the UK, but I believe it's important to keep an open eye and ear to the home market. Next year we are planning to open our own UK plant for vacuum-fried snacks, which could facilitate production of our own homegrown brands GT - What kind of brand owner companies are the ideal partners? Medium and large overseas manufacturers with premium quality, healthy, innovative products who want to develop the UK market and have a marketing budget to support a creative marketing campaign. GT - Do you handle category management for your retail clients, and talk to retailers about merchandising? Where we supply a range of products, we are able to advise retailers and help with their range, price and promotion strategy. This can cover everything from helping with their in-store layout to keeping them abreast of market trends. GT - Do you also carry out samplings in store, or through road shows and at exhibitions? Yes, we support our listings with in-store or related sampling activity. Just because a product makes it onto a retailer’s shelf, doesn’t mean it will automatically sell itself. As well as a great way of driving sales it's also an opportunity to gauge customers' reactions to our brands. GT - Do you run client brands' advertising and other consumer activity for them? How do you publicise these products to the UK audience? All our brands have an allocated marketing budget, spent either on in-store promotion, advertising or PR. We outsource our PR and marketing requirements to an outside agency. Our latest consumer campaign to launch Terra® 50% has encompassed various promotional routes, including media relations, reader competitions in national lifestyle press, regional focused sampling activity and product placement at on-target cultural and sporting events. GT - What's currently driving the fine food market? As well as the unrelenting media presence of celebrity chefs, who are focusing on new and emerging fine food and cuisines, the major supermarkets are also focusing much more on their speciality offering. More fixture space is being allocated for fine food products, and we are seeing this reflected in our sales figures. GT - A host of small suppliers - particularly speciality and fine food producers - are looking to make the next step up, to supply the supermarkets, but want someone to guide them. What's your advice? We are always interested in working with innovative brands. Before approaching us or the multiples, however, my first recommendation would be to establish the brand’s USP and be clear why a retailer or distributor should carry the product. Importing is about looking at the local market and working out how a product will work for it - selling into retailing is no different. GT - What's the biggest single factor facing the UK food importing business over the next few years? The pressure to satisfy the increasing changes and demands of the retail sector, including those on packaging, distribution, ingredients and marketing spend. GT - Do you own any other food-interests besides EFB? I'm fortunate enough to be involved with the Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, North West London, the largest traditional Hindu temple outside India. This awe-inspiring building has an assembly hall which can accommodate up to three thousand people. It's open to non-Hindus and has its own snack production and restaurant. I look after the retail side there. Empire Food Brokers Tel: 020 8537 4080 www.empirefoodbrokers.com