10 minute read
Enjoy the fruits of nature’s labours
WHITWORTHS I PROFILE
Whitworths is the leading importer, manufacturer and distributor of dried fruit, nuts and seeds in the UK, specialising in sourcing the highest quality commodities. The company is not only highly responsive to emerging trends but demonstrates unerring respect for the environment while bringing the best of nature’s goodness in promoting a tastier, healthier diet. Profile by Andy Probert.
Established in 1886, Whitworths has enjoyed a rich, fruitful and varied history that today sees it consolidated as offering a wide range of quality assured natural products, sourced within an ethical Sedex-registered supply chain.
Since 2017, Whitworths has been owned by Anatolia, an Izmir, Turkey-based familyowned dried fruit company, and also one of its biggest and long-standing suppliers.
“That private ownership has allowed us to provide the business with stability, establishing and investing in strong foundations, providing a platform for a positive and successful future,” commented Commercial Director Phil Gowland.
“For Anatolia, it has been a fantastic investment, and for us, it has allowed us to take the benefits of a private company that is not chasing short-term exit plans. We have invested everything that we have earned back into the brand, the people and the site.”
Core impetus
Whitworths’ core impetus has been sourcing worldwide for natural produce, such as dried fruits, nuts, seeds, beans and pulses, then processing them back at its Irthlingborough complex in Northamptonshire before selling them on.
Mr Gowland explained the product range is sold under Whitworths’ own brand and private label to major retailers.
“Whitworths’ branded products go into all the major grocery retailers in the UK,
such as Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asda and Co-op, and also through high street names, such as Poundland and Superdrug.”
Also, shortly before the Covid-19 outbreak, the company began selling directly to consumers through its own ecommerce platform.
Over the years, Whitworths has been the first to offer access to a wide range of new, unusual and exotic fare from all over the world. That knowledge and experience is being utilised to provide innovative, tasty, healthy products that enable families to create delicious recipes at home or on the move through the company’s snacking range.
Whitworths’ range touches many corners of nature’s goodness, including sultanas, raisins, apricots, dates cranberries, walnuts, almonds, cashews, tropical fruits and heattreated seeds.
Over 95% of its raw materials are sourced from more than 30 countries, from more than 100 suppliers and thousands of producers, ultimately demonstrating the complexity of Whitworths’ supply chain. The products are from diverse locations such as Turkey, USA, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, and Far East Asia.
Once products arrive inbound at the company’s 22-acre site, they are allocated to one of four production centres dedicated to dried fruits, nuts, and dried pulses, grains and pasteurisation where they are then processed and packed ready for distribution.
Significant investments
Mr Gowland said that substantial internal investment had helped fuel a factory regeneration programme.
“One of the previous disadvantages of the site, having been here many decades, is that some of the facilities and equipment had become tired and old, and there hadn’t been a lot of investment.
“But since 2017, with Anatolia’s arrival, we have kicked on with a £10 million regeneration programme. This has ranged from basic but critical site maintenance to new production equipment and completely new production factories.”
A new state-of-the-art nut production hall was opened in mid-2020. Since then, the regeneration project has focused on onsite infrastructures, such as major updates to the electrical supply onsite. This has included new transformers and switchgear to power the new production halls and warehouses.
Work has also begun on cereals packing (BPC) and pasteurisation facilities, plus the construction of a new waste management area to the rear of the site to consolidate recycling and zero landfill waste streams.
Whitworths takes food safety and security immensely seriously, adopting leading food safety measures, and its production site is BRC-accredited. It also has a Soil Association accreditation to supply organic ingredients.
“There has also been investment in embedding the right IT infrastructure and the right business processes,” clarified Mr Gowland. “Critically, we are investing in our brand; it is less about what it stood for yesterday, and making sure we invest in its relevance for the future.”
The £140 million turnover business has enjoyed 15-20% annual growth and has continued on an upward trajectory, even throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
AJA CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANTS LTD (AJA CC LTD)
At AJA CC LTD, we advise on buildability, construction methodologies, and sequencing of works. Our designers work alongside the plant engineers to ensure the building detail designs meet all the requirements of the plant.
We manage the interface between food plant contractors, civil contractors, third party plant suppliers and the direct client works. Our approach promotes regular review of scheme designs, allowing foresight for risk management and cost effectiveness. We develop a detailed master programme to identify key milestones and costs (including building works, mechanical and electrical, services, plant, and automation), mitigate risks, and manage and control dependant activities.
AJA Principal Contractor Ltd (AJA PC LTD) was created to work alongside AJA CC Ltd on food related projects to deliver the sitebased construction activities. Acting as principal contractor, we take control of health and safety, site-based programme management, quality control and coordination and supervision of contractors.
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WHITWORTHS I PROFILE
New product range
Mr Gowland said the company had successfully repositioned the brand away from its heritage, traditional home baking position, through to leading the use of natural produce primarily in healthy snacking and healthy eating occasions.
As part of that dynamic, in the last 12 months, Whitworths has launched the Protein By Nature product range.
“Protein By Nature really epitomises what Whitworths is all about,” he said. “We stand behind a purpose that we call ‘Helping everyone eat a little healthier every day’ –which is very different to the wholesome heritage eating of yesteryear.
“We have repositioned the brand into new eating occasions by making great tasting healthy products from things that nature gives us. We use beans, lentils, pulses and grains and make them super tasty, super convenient products and add nothing to them.”
This strategy has redirected Whitworths towards healthier snacking and into healthy mealtimes too. A small main meal or an aside of totally natural ingredients makes up 20g of protein per portion.
“This has moved us to a different location in store where you would not necessarily see Whitworths, and into different eating occasions during the day,” continued Mr Gowland. “But remaining at its heart are natural ingredients and great tasting products, made as easy as possible.”
Protein By Nature, which was launched at the start of 2021, has been warmly accepted by consumers and is available in Tesco, Morrisons and Ocado, and will be on shelves in the Co-op and Sainsbury’s in early 2022.
Brand transition
Mr Gowland continued: “We feel Whitworths is now a well-run, slick business that has repositioned from a well-celebrated, muchloved heritage brand that is more in line with today’s modern trends around healthy eating.
“To shift people’s minds has been ongoing for five years to show that Whitworths has transitioned to a healthier snacking and eating brand. Over 90% of the usage of the brand is not in home baking anymore, but is part of breakfast, healthy meal times and healthy snacking occasions.”
Over the next two years, the company wants to expand its brand relevance through reaching more consumers, consumption occasions, more purchase opportunities and evolving its presence in new markets abroad.
Mr Gowland said: “We want to be seen by more consumers through a variety of eating opportunities, with on-the-go, snacking and healthy indulgence options. Whitworths wants to show that its range is all about higher quality and better standard products, and drive these through healthy inspirations and solutions.”
In the last 18 months, the company has increased branded exports to several countries in the Middle East, China and Canada, with plans in 2022 to launch in the USA, South Korea, Australia and Israel.
“Where and how we can embed the brand and expand it, and become more familiar and famous to consumers, is a key focus,” stated the Commercial Director, adding the second part of the plan is about strategically positioning its retail branded business.
“This is all about aligning the different needs of retailers with our advantages and creating fewer, but deeper strategic own label relationships.”
He added: “We have exited some areas of business in the past few years, but that has led us to diversify our customer base in new non-grocery product areas.”
The company received an Investor in People silver validation during the pandemic,
which demonstrated its engagement from across its 400-strong workforce.
“Our people responded terrifically well during this period, particularly when they had to put in extra effort, think outside the box, and help maintain our business performance,” Mr Gowland acknowledged. “We made active decisions to increase planned stock cover and increased lead times.”
The other element was dealing with the risks on site for the workforce. Mr Gowland said: “We benefited from putting things in place pretty quickly, but most significantly, we adopted a consistent policy stance which we have maintained to this day. We didn’t have any shutdowns or challenges with staff. They have been highly resilient and a key asset to our business.”
Inflation, shipping in raw materials from abroad, and the complexity of its supply chains remain challenges within the industry. But Mr Gowland added: “We believe in supply chain transparency because without that, how can you guarantee the ethical practices in the supply chain are sound, and pesticide control is fair and proper? We believe we lead that supply chain transparency across our industry.”
Health and sustainable evolution
He said the company’s brand and its scale helped differentiate itself from competitors, explaining: “Probably no other brand carries consumer awareness, trust and expectation of quality more than the Whitworths’ brand does.”
The company has four significant advantages, with consumer insight and innovation at the heart of what it does, and which leads to a better understanding that it’s meeting shoppers’ needs.
“We have a corporate plan investing in specs and sourcing, to checks and final inspections to ensure we have highly consistent, quality products.
“Thirdly, is what value we can offer on a cost advantage. The way in which our experienced buying and supply chain team understand the markets, the way in which we buy, work in those strategic relationships, and make collaborative decisions with partners, can achieve real cost advantages.”
He said: “Understanding the needs of suppliers, clients and shoppers, having great communication and transparency are the foundation stones of long-term relationships.”
Whitworths is also very focused on sustainability from the producers it uses through to carefully considering the impact on carbon emissions, packaging waste and food waste when specifying packaging solutions. The primary concern is to select packaging that will protect and preserve their products’ integrity, taste, and texture over time.
“Food safety is of paramount importance, and with careful selection of packaging, we can also help minimise food waste by optimising shelf life,” he added.
“We also consider how consumers will use our products, either in one serving or over a period of time. For multi-serving occasions, we’ll add a re-sealability or reclose option.”
To distribute and merchandise products, Whitworths uses corrugated cases. Up to 83% of the content of each case is made from recycled paper, the balance being from sustainable sources.
The company adopts a six-point sustainability plan across the supply chain. These touch on reducing energy, sustainable farming, ethical practices, using and controlling pesticides, better packaging and reducing plastics, and simplifying complex transportation solutions.
Mr Gowland concluded: “Within the industry, and accelerated by the pandemic, is the importance of healthy eating. The fact that we are in the business of supplying natural products, and with new HFSS regulations coming into force, Whitworths is incredibly well-positioned for the future.”n
