JJ Foodservice maintains sales growth despite Covid-19 impact

JJ Foodservice has reported an annual sales growth of 1.3 per cent in 2020, despite the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The wholesaler said quick thinking and a successful business-to-consumer service have helped to recoup sales.

“Restaurants, cafes and pubs account for the majority of our sales,” said Sezer Ozkul, chief product officer. “We lost that, overnight.”

The business, however, set up a fully operational direct-to-consumer offer within eight hours of the government announcing the first lockdown in March 2020.

“We dropped the minimum order from £125 to £79, kept our prices stable to promote fairness, and sustained product availability,” Ozkul said.

More than 30,000 people registered for the service, boosting the weekly number of orders from 24,000 to 34,000.

Meanwhile, JJ continued to support restaurants and pubs offering a takeaway or delivery service. “It was all hands on deck,” Ozkul said.

“While the rest of the industry was in serious decline, we kept going. It’s a tremendous achievement for our team.”

The business posted sales of £225 million for the calendar year ending December 2020.