26.10.09 | Natures Way Foods brings together customers and suppliers and celebrates success

To help build relationships, focus on future challenges and celebrate the company’s success, leading prepared salads and fruit supplier, Natures Way Foods (NWF), brought together key customers and suppliers last week at the company’s annual Suppliers’ Conference in Portsmouth.

Entitled ‘Winning Together in a Changing Landscape’ the one day Conference united buyers from Tesco, Morrison, Pret a Manger and McDonalds, alongside growers, packaging suppliers and other companies within the NWF supply chain. Delegates were invited to discuss ways in which they could work together more efficiently in a spirit of communication and shared values.

Alongside presentations by NWF personnel, Tesco, Morrisons, Pret a Manger and McDonalds outlined their challenges and objectives. In the afternoon, delegates worked in workshop groups, discussing varying issues and identifying ways of pooling their resources. Each group was allocated specific topics and areas of concern, and asked to develop and agree action-centered solutions.

“This is our second Suppliers Conference and we are absolutely delighted to bring together so many customers and suppliers under one roof,” explained NWF CEO Susan Barratt. Times are extremely tough and we have many challenges ahead, but we believe that the secret to our success is our people, our efficient processes and our communication. By working together towards a common goal, we can overcome obstacles and make our businesses strong. We hope that the Conference helped to consolidate existing ties and create new ones.”

Despite the challenging climate, NWF has had a very positive year of growth with increased sales of both bagged salads and prepared fruit. The company attributes much of this success to its excellent relationships with its customers and suppliers.

“We work extremely hard to ensure that we provide exactly what the customer wants and we are quick to respond to changing conditions and requirements,” continues Susan Barratt. “The bagged salads market has grown by nearly 1.5% over the past year, and the prepared fruit market is now worth approximately £200 million, so we need to continue to offer quality, freshness and value for money if we are going to succeed. It is our ability to provide all three relentlessly that makes us stand out from our competitors".

NWF provides fresh bagged salads to Tesco, and both fruits and salads to Morrisons and Pret. It is also a supplier of salad products to McDonalds.