Trevors Foodservice marks 60 years with Anniversary Trade Show

Directors of the family-owned business (left to right): Dianne Whitehead, Heather Hitchen, Gary Hitchen and Matthew Hitchen.

Blackpool-based Trevors Foodservice is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a Trade Show at Bolton Stadium on 2 November.

At the event, catering professionals and businesses from across the North will be able to celebrate the company’s rich history, while seeing, tasting, and testing the latest culinary trends and innovations.

The company expects to welcome business owners, chefs, catering managers, front-of-house experts, procurement specialists and students from the public catering and hospitality sectors.

More than 50 suppliers will showcase their latest products, techniques and solutions with chef demonstrations and samples. Visitors will also benefit from a wide selection of exclusive on-the-day deals, and there will be a charity raffle and a host of giveaways, with up to £1,000 in prizes to be won.

Gary Hitchen, Trevors Foodservice managing director, said: “This will be our first trade show since the pandemic and, with it aligning with our 60th anniversary celebrations, it’s going to be a huge day for our team, our guests and for caterers across Blackpool and the North West.

“A chance for us to thank our valued customers and suppliers for their ongoing support these past 60 years, the event will also play a key role in helping caterers learn, share insights and prepare for the festive season plus the challenges to come in 2024.”

Matthew Hitchen, the wholesaler’s purchasing and operations director, added: “With foodservice businesses under intense pressure these past few years following the pandemic and then the recent rising costs and labour shortages, attendance is not just about finding the latest products and trends to survive and hopefully thrive in 2024, but it’s also a commitment to play a role in shaping the future of the catering industry for the next 60 years and beyond.”

Trevors Foodservice celebrates its 60th anniversary on 2 November 2023.

Ken Hitchen, who joined as a 19-year-old in 1963, quickly made himself indispensable to the business and became a shareholder along with his wife Heather in 1969.  The business was initially retail focused, and the Hitchens were instrumental in spearheading the company’s move into delivered wholesale in the ’80s to take advantage of Blackpool’s thriving hospitality scene.

When founder and majority shareholder Trevor Tasker retired in 1983, the Hitchens remortgaged everything they owned to acquire his shares and have since turned the business into Blackpool’s leading foodservice supplier.

With their children Gary and Dianne now driving the business forward along with the third generation (grandchild Matthew), the business continues to supply food and drink to schools, colleges, hospitals, care homes, pubs, restaurants, hotels, B&Bs, cafés, leisure centres and other catering businesses across Blackpool, Lancashire and the wider North West.

Trevors Foodservice ‘combines an extensive and fully traceable portfolio of over 2,500 frozen, chilled and ambient goods with the finest customer service, support, advice and innovation’. It offers online ordering, next-day deliveries and competitive pricing.