Britain: Community Foods a major distributor

Community Foods is the major importer of natural and organic dry products to Britain. In 2006 the company, which was founded in 1978 as a specialist distributor of health foods, was sold to the Milk Marque. About 40 % of the turnover is organic and about 50 % of the 2800 food lines are sourced from organic producers or dealers, but they do not trade fresh products. Community Foods achieves an annual turnover of about 80 million euros.

Picture: Community Foods' modern building

One of the newest clients is Whole Foods Market in London. “Whole Foods has brought an entirely new dynamic to presenting and marketing food in Britain” states Paul Moore, press spokesman of Community Foods, welcoming this development. Community Foods is located in an industrial area in the north of London. There is a big parking lot for cars and deliveries by lorry in front of the modern flat-roofed building (picture above). A visitor to the building is met by a pleasant but busy atmosphere: a man with ponytail is on his way to the high shelf storage hall; another man is fetching a cup of coffee from the machine. “Very important for us is our canteen, where we have a cook preparing the dishes,” Paul Moore explains. Every day there is a different choice of fresh, wholesome dishes, some of which are organic. The canteen is the communication and recreation centre of the whole company. (picture: Paul Moore in the canteen). Although the business has grown considerably in recent years, its origins are still present in the spirit of the enterprise today. 
   
Reported sales 75 million Euros in 2006 suggest there will be an increase of around 10 % in 2007 to over 80 million euros. The company is based in north-west London, where it has a 4,500 m² warehouse, cash-and-carry outlet (picture) and offices, with additional off-site storage of 9,000 m² in Suffolk. The major part of the bulk products is kept in chilled warehouses, which are excellent facilities for maintaining the quality of organic fruit and nuts. 2,800 food lines are on their list, with 70 % sold as bulk, 20 % as packaged goods, and 10 % exported to 20 different countries. Community Foods packages under private label for various companies. 10 % of the turnover is derived from the non-food segment, such as cosmetics, personal health care and household items.

“There is a trend in the conventional trade away from artificial colours, additives and flavours,” states Paul Moore. Community trades with all of the six major companies in Britain, which have a market share of 80 % of the retail market. “Too often they just want natural products and are not willing to pay the premium for organic but expect it at the same price” he adds. “There is an ongoing education process to explain that the additional benefits of organic command an additional price.”   

Community Foods is, they say, the only natural foods wholesaler with its own control laboratory that checks product quality and standards. Five people work here to guarantee the quality of incoming shipments. (picture: own quality control guarantees a quick result).

Organic foods comprise roughly 40 % of Community Food’s turnover. By the mid 1980s Community had been buying and selling small amounts of organic food as it became available. Frustrated by the limited range, and concerned about the “organic” status of some suppliers, Community became a board member of a group called “The Good Food Foundation”. The aim of this group, based in Holland and representing 4 countries (UK, Holland, Denmark and France), was to promote the range and availability of organic foods. As a result, Community Foods built up its own organic trade label called Crazy Jack with sultanas, raisins, apricots, figs and hazelnuts from Turkey. In recent years the range of products has been considerably extended. More than 14,000 tons of organic dried fruit and nut products are available through the “Good Food Foundation” and there are now further projects in India, Africa and China.

“There are 160 items with our own label, 30-40 of them selling really well,” comments Paul Moore. (picture: attractive packaging of Crazy Jack products). Community Foods is also the exclusive importer of a couple of organic food brands like Nature’s Path (based in Canada) and Vitasoy from Hong Kong. 

Since it does not have its own trucks, Community uses a haulage contractor to distribute organic products across the UK to specialist retailers, conventional supermarkets and food processors. Customers also include other traders and such wholesalers as Infinity Foods, a specialist supplier to health food stores and packers. Commodities like seeds, grains, peas, herbs and spices comprise the bulk of organic food imports.

In September 2006, Milk Marque, the successor company to the Milk Marketing Board of England and Wales, purchased the entire share capital of Community Foods (Holdings) Ltd., and the business passed into the hands of over 12,000 British farmers as shareholders.  Everyone stayed on board, including the managers, and the takeover had no negative consequences. Another positive feature was that Community Foods had financial resources available to invest in things like computer hardware and new sales employees.

Now the company employs over 80 people to support its various operations. Some of the original 13 owners are still working there, for example managing director Bill Henry (picture). The 52-year-old has been part of the company since 1978. Ralph Draper is Head of Procurement, Dave Price is responsible for organic products and Paul Smith for pulses and seeds.

A bit of history: The business dates back to the early 1970s, when Community Food was established in a squat in London, buying whole foods to service the budding health food consumer. Both the founders of the business and its customers were concerned about poor quality, highly processed foods, the use of additives and preservatives, the indiscriminate use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers in crop production, and the increasing use of “health food supplements”. The company bought whole grains, dried fruit, nuts, pulses, herbs and spices from all over the world to service a small but growing industry of health food shops and manufacturers. The organic pioneers started to travel abroad – going to Turkey, India, China and many other markets to meet producer groups and processors. It’s a similar story to that of Rapunzel that began in Germany at about the same time. Whereas Rapunzel developed into a 100 % organic company which in recent years began to deliver to the conventional trade, for Community Foods the conventional market were always major customers and they were the ones who chose, or did not choose, organic.   
(picture: commune-style living and working in Community Foods’ first shop)