The Scottish Wholesale Association (SWA) last week brought together wholesalers, suppliers and industry leaders at its Connex Conference in Glasgow to discuss the key challenges and opportunities facing the sector.
Held at Òran Mór, the event focused on strengthening business resilience, developing future skills and ensuring the wholesale industry remains equipped to navigate a rapidly evolving trading environment, with discussions aligned to SWA's strategic priorities of advocacy, training, sustainability, data and communication.
Tom Slaven, SWA president, welcomed attendees, thanked the attendees for their support, and set the tone by highlighting how the association has adapted to a changing environment – emphasising that the wider industry must continue to do the same.
SWA chief executive Colin Smith explained how the pillars, based on engagement with members and forming part of the association’s three-year strategy.
He said: “Supply, Sustain, Support – that’s the framework we've put in front of every political party and stakeholder, translating those pillars into a clear ask: secure the supply chain, sustain a skilled and resilient sector, and support the conditions for growth.”
In a presentation titled Building Wholesale Resilience – The Path to 2050, Tanya Pepin, co-founder and managing director of The Wholesale Company, focused on how the consumer environment has fundamentally changed, with supply chain disruption and unstable geopolitical conditions including global conflicts and climate change.
One of her overarching messages was that “demand is not disappearing, it is fragmenting and evolving”. Wholesale, she said, was also under pressure from rising energy bills and labour costs including increased employers’ National Insurance payments and wage inflation, while regulatory pressures came in the form of, for example, HFSS, EPR/DRS, MUP, tobacco legislation, and sustainability requirements.
While hospitality spend continues to grow overall in Scotland faster than the rest of the UK, convenience stores – both independents and symbol groups – remain under pressure but are performing better than the rest of the UK. Much of this, Pepin said, can be attributed to shifting consumer behaviour with shoppers seeking new experiences and innovation such as subscription food boxes and meal kits – and consumers becoming more digitally enabled.
Wholesalers, she added, were ideally placed to “become the discovery engine for the next generation of food and drink”.
Other speakers included Professor Colin Campbell, Martin McCardle, David Summerhill, and Graham Urquhart.
A Building Wholesale Resilience panel discussion featured Jane Mackie, founder of Rora Dairy in Aberdeenshire, Jim Cummiskey, chief executive of Glasgow wholesaler Fáilte Group, Alice Graham, GB head of hospitality, wholesale and foodservice at Carlsberg Britvic, and David Cooke, chief operating officer at buying group Unitas Wholesale.
They discussed whether the sector could develop an incubator model across Scottish wholesale to support emerging categories, brands and local products. The aim would be to strengthen and futureproof the wholesale channel while bringing the entire supply chain together – boosting Scotland’s food security and unlocking the climate opportunities highlighted by Professor Campbell in his presentation.