Dunns Food and Drinks appoints Ed Faber as new head of sales

Dunns Food and Drinks has recruited former Braehead Foods commercial director Ed Faber as its new head of sales and has launched a recruitment drive to add to its sales team.

The appointment of Faber, who has also previously worked at Unilever and Bestfoods, is a key part of Dunns’ strategy to step up its sales operation, and his initial focus will be to increase the Blantyre-based wholesaler’s food offering.

Faber (pictured) said: “The opportunity to drive the evolution of Dunns Food and Drinks’ food operation really excites me. There is a massive amount of experience internally – and I want to add some more flair to the food side of the business.”

He added: “I expect the industry to recover to pre-pandemic levels within 12 months, but we are essentially facing three crises within a few years – the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit, Ukraine war – each hitting the industry in different ways.

“It’s had a catastrophic effect on our industry, which is slowly picking itself back up but is still far from where it needs to be. There is hesitancy to ask consumers en masse to return to eating out-of-home, as certain segments of the marketplace are still nervous to be in crowded indoor spaces.

“From a competition perspective, there are wholesalers who are no longer there, so that creates a more open field. What we are going to try to do is help operators get back on their feet, particularly those who want to serve food outdoors. We’ve had an increase in recent enquiries from operators looking to serve food outdoors, particularly casually. We are looking at how we can create innovative food options that support that industry shift.”

Commenting on Faber’s appointment, operations director Julie Dunn said: “Ed is one of the best in the business and joins an already fantastic team. Ed has hit the ground running and has already set the wheels in motion on initiatives that will be crucial to the next stages of Dunns’ development.”

Founded in 1875 as a soft drinks firm, Dunns Food and Drinks has grown to become one of Scotland’s leading delivered wholesalers, supplying around 2,000 customers across Scotland.