Cash & carry is now growing at more than twice the rate of delivered and faster than the multiples though growth has slowed in both sectors over the past year.
The entire wholesale market will have grown 2.7% to £26.3bn by the end of the year, according to the IGD Grocery and Foodservice Wholesaling 2010 report. Cash & carry sales will have risen 4.5%, while delivered sales will be up just 2%, compared with growth of 6.1% and 3.6% respectively last year. The foodservice sector, meanwhile, is expected to have grown 1.5% a significant recovery from 2009 when sales fell 1.2%.
The results reflect the performance of the biggest operators in the two sectors. Last month, Booker posted a 5.5% increase in sales for the six months to 10 September, while P&H recently posted just a 0.2% uplift for the year to 3 April.
"Independent business people have had to become much more focused on price and managing cashflow in the past couple of years, which obviously plays into the hands of C&C," said IGD senior business analyst Patrick Mitchell-Fox.
"But the C&C sector as a whole was in a much better position to take advantage of the economic factors. The regeneration of Booker under CEO Charles Wilson has not just improved Booker but has made its competitors up their game."
The whole cash & carry sector had benefited, agreed Wilson. "As the economy becomes more challenging, customers are more concerned about price and C&C offers the lowest price," he said. "As we have done a better job, the overall sector has grown."
Delivered, on the other hand, had been hit hard by rising fuel costs, said Mitchell-Fox. "Delivery as a pure-play model has been put in a straitjacket," he said. "As such we have seen delivered wholesalers having to become increasingly flexible. Wholesalers such as P&H have had to go back to the drawing board with more van sales and store visits."
The entire wholesale market will have grown 2.7% to £26.3bn by the end of the year, according to the IGD Grocery and Foodservice Wholesaling 2010 report. Cash & carry sales will have risen 4.5%, while delivered sales will be up just 2%, compared with growth of 6.1% and 3.6% respectively last year. The foodservice sector, meanwhile, is expected to have grown 1.5% a significant recovery from 2009 when sales fell 1.2%.
The results reflect the performance of the biggest operators in the two sectors. Last month, Booker posted a 5.5% increase in sales for the six months to 10 September, while P&H recently posted just a 0.2% uplift for the year to 3 April.
"Independent business people have had to become much more focused on price and managing cashflow in the past couple of years, which obviously plays into the hands of C&C," said IGD senior business analyst Patrick Mitchell-Fox.
"But the C&C sector as a whole was in a much better position to take advantage of the economic factors. The regeneration of Booker under CEO Charles Wilson has not just improved Booker but has made its competitors up their game."
The whole cash & carry sector had benefited, agreed Wilson. "As the economy becomes more challenging, customers are more concerned about price and C&C offers the lowest price," he said. "As we have done a better job, the overall sector has grown."
Delivered, on the other hand, had been hit hard by rising fuel costs, said Mitchell-Fox. "Delivery as a pure-play model has been put in a straitjacket," he said. "As such we have seen delivered wholesalers having to become increasingly flexible. Wholesalers such as P&H have had to go back to the drawing board with more van sales and store visits."
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