McColl’s has this week completed the rollout of its supply agreement with Morrisons to 1,300 of its stores.
The roll-out started in January and was originally planned for completion by November. However the schedule had to be brought forward following the collapse of P&H last November. At the time the failed wholesaler supplied around 700 of McColl’s stores.
A further 300 stores which McColl’s bought from the Co-op in 2017 will continue to be supplied by Nisa until 2020.
Under the six-year wholesale supply agreement with Morrisons, the supermarket giant is supplying McColl’s with fresh and ambient products as well as the 400 products in the Safeway own brand range - which McColl’s is stocking exclusively for the duration of this year.
McColl’s said chilled and fresh Safeway products are proving particularly popular, with ‘freshness’ and ‘Britishness’ two attributes resonating strongly with McColl’s customers.
The retailer said free-range eggs sales were up 48% as the Safeway line provided a more competitive price point than its previous offering. It also said minced beef sales are up 68% due to the higher quality of the Safeway product.
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“Our partnership with Morrisons is fundamental to our strategy of growing our convenience offer, and I am delighted we have transitioned well ahead of schedule,” said McColl’s CEO Jonathan Miller.
“The accelerated roll-out was a great achievement by both the McColl’s and Morrisons teams, and it enables us to move through the second half of the year with a progressively stronger, simpler and more secure supply chain.
“Looking ahead, we will now focus on firmly establishing Safeway with our customers as well as exploring opportunities to develop the range further.”
Last month McColl’s blamed the chaos following the collapse of P&H as its pre-tax profits almost halved from £4.5m to £2.3m in the six months to 27 May.
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