Pitch your product to wholesalers at IFE 2026

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FWD

Open exclusively to IFE exhibitors, Food & Drink Wholesale UK (FWD) brought four key wholesaler groups to discover the latest products at IFE. FWD is the trade association for food and drink wholesalers in the UK, and the event provided exhibitors with the opportunity to meet buyers from Booker, the National Buying Consortium (NBC), Sugro and The Wholesale Group (TWG). Exhibitors had the chance to showcase their products and impress these influential buying teams.

Wholesalers who Participated

Booker

Booker is the UK’s biggest food wholesaler for hospitality, catering and retail businesses.

They offer customers range of products and services – instore and online – including a dedicated butchery service, fresh, chilled, frozen and ambient foods, snacks, beers, wines and spirits, soft drinks, store cupboard items, dry goods and non-food supplies. Through our on-trade business, Venus Wine and Spirit Merchants, we also offer over 2,000 premium spirits, wines, keg, craft and packaged lagers and ciders.

A subsidiary of Tesco plc, Booker also supports independent retailers and owns the symbol brands of Budgens, Londis and Premier. 
 

 

 

 

 

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meet the buyer

NBC & NDN

Meet the Buying Group – NBC – AND the Wholesaler - NDN. NBC is a fully integrated buying group for independent wholesalers and cash and carries – with a big difference. We operate NDN – our centralised and wholly owned warehousing and logistics service providing a safe, reliable route to market for our suppliers. As well as being one point of contact for over 65 members servicing over 45000 outlets through NBC, NDN provides the additional benefits to suppliers of a centralised order to cash function, Bulk purchasing opportunities, and reduced credit risks. Our customers get access to brands in more realistic quantities at great NET prices.
 

Sugro

Sugro uk is a buying & marketing group with over 40 years of trading and excellent digital member offer: All-in-one ecommerce solution with personalised app and web development, open banking, e-loyalty rewards scheme and whatsapp for business capabilities. With the group’s turnover of over £2.5bn, sugro uk consists of over 80 independent wholesalers, servicing retail, foodservice, quick service restaurants, hospitality and education sectors. The group has a strong coverage across mainland, northern ireland, channel islands and isle of man. With over 20 consecutive years of growth, the group trades with over 150 suppliers across confectionery, crisps & snacks, soft drinks, grocery, catering and non-food areas.
 

 

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FWD Meet The Buyer

The Wholesale Group

The Wholesale Group represents 14% of the UK Wholesale market and a combined annual turnover of over £4.5billion. With 255 Wholesale members servicing retail and foodservice customers across the UK, The Wholesale Group works with brands across all product categories. We also operate a number of own-brand ranges under CHEF Assured, CORE and Clean Solutions. 

Central Distribution operates a route to market for brands wanting to penetrate the UK Wholesale market. Operating since 2009 as a consolidator for a wide variety of FMCG brands spanning retail and foodservice, Central Distribution is the chosen distributor for secondary wholesaling within the UK market.

2026 Testimonials

Overall, I found the meeting with The Wholesale Group to be very productive. The quality of the meetings was strong, and the format made it easy to have meaningful conversations and explore potential opportunities. It was also a great chance to gain insights into current market trends and buyer expectations.

Rito Mints Ltd

Meeting SUGRO at the IFE “Meet the Buyer” event was a genuinely valuable experience. The conversation was productive from the outset, with the Sugro team showing appreciation of the innovation from us in the confectionery market and a strong interest in high-quality product ranges.
What stood out most was their openness to exploring how Candy Paradise could fit within their supplier network. The discussion gave us confidence that there is real alignment between our offering and Sugro’s wholesale partners.


Since the event, there has been promising follow-up, and we are optimistic about the potential onboarding opportunity. Overall, the event created a meaningful connection that could develop into a strong commercial partnership, and we greatly appreciate the opportunity to have engaged with Sugro in such a focused setting.

Candy Paradise

Meeting the National Buying Consortium was a great experience, and we found it really useful.

Taj Foods Ltd