Caterfood gives more time to suppliers at Meet the Buyer event

The first ‘new-format’ Meet the Buyer event from Caterfood Buying Group (CFBG) in 2025 will take place on 25-27 February at the Carden Park Hotel in Cheshire.

Compared to the first Meet the Buyer event in July 2024, this one will provide more time for suppliers to engage with 40 key representatives from across the CFBG’s eight member businesses and central team.

The Meet the Buyer event will now include a dedicated networking dinner and overnight stay for each group of 20 suppliers selected to present to delegates the following day. In addition, whilst demonstrating their products, suppliers will now get almost twice as much time to discuss products and business goals with each small group of CFBG delegates.

Each day of the two-day event will start with a business update from CFBG managing director Phil Atyeo and commercial director Tom Workman. Delegates will also be introduced to key new lines from the group’s own-brand range, The Caterfood Collection.

Len Gould, head of purchasing at CFBG, commented: “At Caterfood Buying Group, we really value developing quality relationships between our suppliers and our members, and that’s why we’ve developed this new and improved event format, taking on board constructive feedback from the first event that we held last year.

“Ultimately, we believe in the power of strong working relationships and want everyone to come away from CFBG Meet the Buyer feeling that they got the most that they could from it – and that includes plenty of time to network before and during the allocated product demonstration. By introducing the networking dinner the evening prior to each presentation day, we hope that everyone will have the opportunity to break the ice, settle in and then be more able to hit the ground running the following day.

“We see these events as a crucial investment of time and knowledge sharing between our members and suppliers, which are in everyone’s favour. As the CFBG continues to grow and evolve, so will our calendar of events.”

The group is planning to host two dedicated Meet the Buyer events per year (the first in February and second in July) followed by an annual Winter Conference and CFBG Awards at the end of the year.

The eight members of CFBG are South Lincs Foodservice, Caterfood SW, Cimandis, Elite Fine Foods, Nicol Hughes, Harvest, Thomas Ridley Foodservice and Turner Price.