Wholesaler Up Close: Creed Foodservice
Creed are a national delivered Wholesaler for the foodservice industry. Creed has an accolade of awards from the 2016 federation of wholesale distributors gold medal for Customer Support, to the best companies ‘one to watch’ status in 2015,2016 and 2018 as well as a best company one-star award in 2017 and 2019. 380 employees across the three depots that make up Creed.
Creed believes in more.
“Believe in more” is the Creed motto – thinking more, doing more and being more than a foodservice provider. The business is built on family values, trust and recognising the importance of open, honest and supportive relationships that work and unite everyone.
The business origins are in retail
Back in 1965, Terry Creed and his wife Barbara opened a corner shop in Whaddon, Cheltenham, their first venture in the industry. More stores around Cheltenham, Gloucester and the surrounding areas followed, and in 1972 they launched the first Linbar discount grocery store. The need for a distribution centre soon became apparent and so a Cash and Carry was opened in Cheltenham to be used as the Linbar head office and distribution centre.
The transition from Retail to Wholesale came after Linbar was sold in 1989, and with Creed Wholesale Catering suppliers launched, the first foodservice warehouse was purchased, with operations moved to the Staverton technology site in Gloucestershire in 1992.
It remains a family-run business
Today, the company is run by Chris, Phillip, Paul and Steven Creed: Chris the driving force behind Creed’s growth into a national player, Sustainability Director Philip leading the company to win a number of awards in that area, Paul (with the business since 1985) responsible for technical developments such as the introduction of supply chain software and implementing voice picking software.
Their reach extends around the country
Creed’s head office remains at the original Gloucestershire base, but the company now also has depots in Staverton, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, High Wycombe and Buckinghamshire, enabling them to service accounts across the Midlands, the North, London and the Southeast.
An extensive product range is integral to the business
Creed operate in the care, education, destination leisure and hospitality sector and stock a huge variety of foods – grocery, fresh produce, frozen, chilled, beverages, alcohol and non-food, meaning their customers benefit from a range of multi-category offerings rather than having to source from individual suppliers. Creed makes 2-3 deliveries per week – reducing admin work for their customers – delivered by one vehicle, just one of the steps the company is taking to be more environmentally aware.
Creed have their own on-site fully accredited butchery
The Creed Family butchers is an EEC approved butchery, supplying high quality, fresh meat products to multiple businesses in foodservice – it holds the Red Tractor Standard and works closely with some of the UK’s most credible farmers, slaughterhouses and meat suppliers. This means the butchery has full traceability of its products, and even offers RSPCA assured products that confirm all animals receive high standards of care.
They’ve been quick to respond to the rise of different dietary needs and allergens
Recognising the importance of allergens and dietary needs, Creed have incorporated them into their product guide and new e-commerce site. They also make sure that all suppliers are accredited to a BRC level or SALSA minimum to ensure the highest standard of food.
They’re especially excited about their new, state-of-the-art development chef and kitchen
Creed’s Foodservice Innovation Centre opened last December and houses a state-of-the-art development kitchen as well as a hands-on cooking workspace and meeting room. Entirely dedicated to supporting customers, the centre hosts menu and recipe development sessions, customer training and off-site meetings, supplier product presentations, product workshops and taste testings. The kitchen is used by the company’s business development chefs, Rob Owen and Millie Morgan, who work with Creed customers to experiment, and develop new and exciting recipes and menu solutions.
Erudus is part of Creed’s daily routine
Creed tell us they use Erudus every day – whether it’s to search for product specifications easily or extract product attributes to support third party systems (such as their online ordering platforms).
