Thomas Ridley trade show celebrated East Anglian foodservice industry

Suffolk-based Thomas Ridley Foodservice, which is now part of the Caterfood Buying Group, recently held its first ‘eat. with Thomas Ridley’ trade show at Ipswich Town Football Club. More than 150 people attended the event.

With more than 100 different food and drink trade stands spread out over three floors of the football ground, customers were treated to a relaxed and friendly atmosphere where they could chat to Thomas Ridley staff, try products, explore new lines and menu solutions, and understand more about what each supplier could offer them – both in terms of range and provenance.

Jon Matthews, sales director of Thomas Ridley Foodservice, said: “The eat. with Thomas Ridley trade show was a great day and we were really pleased to see so many local customers, and many potential customers, take the time to come along and join us at this brand new event.

“We know that everyone working in the industry is extremely busy and very few people can make the time to travel to the bigger food and drink shows, so we wanted to bring a vibrant, local trade show to our customers. And actually, we found that a couple of hours here at the football ground with so many wonderful and knowledgeable suppliers – and, of course, Thomas Ridley staff members on hand to help provide solutions for their business and answer questions – is exactly what the customer needs to get the most out of a trade show like this.

“There were a lot of happy people walking away from eat. with tangible insights and inspirations which they can quickly action to revamp their offering, reduce costs and stay ahead of the game when it comes to maintaining what their customers want to see on menus – and importantly making that offering at an affordable price for the current climate.

“Here at Thomas Ridley, we’re focused on being a partner for our customers and we’re invested in doing everything that we can to help them succeed and delight their customers; we’re all passionate about food and foodservice and providing a great customer experience.”

Matthews concluded: “The whole event had a great buzz about it and we’re already looking forward to making plans to hold the event again next year.”