Host announces £50m supply deal

Host, the national contract catering group run by foodservice entrepreneur Jerry Brand, has kicked off 2010 by signing a £50m three-year deal with supplier Brakes for its dry, chilled and frozen foods.

Brakes will supply Host’s 75 contracted units in business & industry, healthcare and education from the end of January, as well as its in-house contract business in healthcare (a further 53 contracts) and the new 16-site, £3m turnover PGL holiday/adventure camps contract that started in November 2009.

Host has also negotiated a further deal nominating Brakes for fresh butchery, fish, greengrocery, bakery and dairy, but has introduced another supplier for fresh food giving unit managers the option to source locally based produce from supply group e-foods.

“Giving our unit managers the option of using fresh supplies from e-foods offers them an automatic cost comparison with Brakes,” commented Host managing director Jerry Brand. “It’s an unusual deal as most contractors will use several suppliers, whereas we’ve opted for just two. This means that while we’ve negotiated a favourable deal with Brakes, we have also introduced an element of competition between Brakes and e-foods on fresh produce, so our managers have the choice of buying locally or nationally and with whoever offers the best quality at the best price.

“Our counter customers are the main beneficiaries of this new purchasing policy as it means they will always get the best value and freshest local produce and regional foods on their menus. It also reduces the number of deliveries the units are receiving, so lowering our carbon footprint and food miles,” added Brand.

This is the first of several new initiatives Host will introduce in 2010, as part of its ‘Starter for ‘10’ campaign. Others will include further developments on its e-procurement system ‘g-shop’ which connects producers and growers with local operators, as well as the completion of its Caternet Club concept which offers unit managers a fully integrated internet-based catering management system for budgeting, menu management, nutritional analysis, e-procurement and subsequent reporting via a single website.

Host was established in 2004 by former Russell & Brand chief executive Jerry Brand. The company is focused on delivering a high quality of food and service with menus tailored to each site, while also developing modern methods of providing the traditional contract catering service in the current financial environment where clients need to reduce the cost of catering for their employees, pupils or students and residents in care homes.

For further information, interviews or comment please contact Linda Pettit at Tilburstow Media Partners on 01737 823721/07973 789853 or email linda@tilburstowmedia.co.uk.

EDITOR’S NOTE

ABOUT HOST

Host is an independent, nationally based, environmentally friendly contract catering company, partly owned by the company management through an EMI share option scheme. The company was founded in 2004 and is directed by award winning contractor and former restaurateur Jerry Brand.
Host has contracts in Scotland, Wales and mainland England including business & industry, directors and partners dining rooms, conference facilities, independent (prep, senior and 6th form) schools, Beacon state schools, further and higher education, and the healthcare industry in care homes, hospices and hospitals. The Host organisation looks after 75 contracts and employs over 550 staff.
In 1988 Jerry Brand established the successful contract catering company Russell & Brand (R&B) which in 1994/95 became the 2^nd fastest-growing private company in the UK. In 1996 R&B was sold to US-based Marriott to spearhead its launch into the UK contract catering market.
Jerry Brand founded Host with the same business principles he used at R&B: to offer clients a fair deal by following a code of business ethics; to develop a good working relationship with both client and employee; and to allow staff and management sufficient empowerment to run their areas of responsibility as if they were running their own business.

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