- Farmfoods
Infobox_Company
company_name = Farmfoods Limited
company_type = Private
parent =
company_
slogan = The Frozen Food Specialists
foundation = 1954
location =Cumbernauld ,Scotland , UK
locations = 300
key_people = Eric Herd (Chairman )
num_employees = 3071 (2005)
revenue =
operating_income =
industry =Retail
products =frozen food
homepage = [http://www.farmfoods.co.uk www.farmfoods.co.uk] |Farmfoods is an expanding
supermarket chain in theUnited Kingdom . Farmfoods' stores specialise infrozen food and also offer a large range of everyday essentials and grocery items; including soft drinks, confectionery, bread, milk, deserts along with fresh fruit and vegetables.History
Farmfoods is one of the most successful privately-owned businesses in the
United Kingdom and has traded profitably for nearly 50 years.From its roots as an
Aberdeen -based meat manufacturing business, Farmfoods began to freeze products to enable a wider geographical distribution to catering outlets. Steadily, products were dispatched further afield, to major Scottish cities likeGlasgow andEdinburgh and with growth, further lines by larger manufacturers such as chips by McCain were introduced.By 1975 the entire business had changed and focused on retail rather than wholesale supply. An experimental
freezer centre was set up in Aberdeen and was very successful. A further 10 freezer centres were opened across Scotland and Farmfoods as we know it was formed.Acquisitions & Growth
Farmfoods operated 31 stores in 1988 and gained initial entry into England through the acquisition of 18 stores from
Wallis Frozen Foods .In the early 90s, Farmfoods expanded further with the acquisition of the
Capital Freezer Centres chain.As of April 2005, Farmfoods operates more than 300 specialist freezer centres stretching from Invergordon in the North of
Scotland to Dover in the South East ofEngland .Farmfoods stores are typically located in city and town centres, more-often-than-not in stand-alone units complete with dedicated parking, however occasionally stores are located in
shopping centre s. However, recently Farmfoods have started to focus on opening stores near the edge of towns, where they have their own larger car parks and are able to open for longer periods.tore Formats & Trading Style
Generally, stores are in the form of aisles with waist-height freezer cabinets running along each side and shelving above most freezers. Popular items, such as soft drinks and canned foods are often placed in the middle of aisles (atop plastic
plinths to protect goods from damage) in a "stack it high, sell it cheap" formatThere are many exceptions to this generalisation as all stores are unique. Some stores have sections with full height shelving. These house groups of products such as pet food or the ever-growing selection of toiletry and other household items. In the past the design of each shop had been tailored to the general layout of the store. Since many of the older stores were not built to be freezer centres they are often too small and awkwardly shaped making them hard to traverse. Recently the company has developed a standard wheelchair friendly layout which all the new and much larger stores, such as Cumbernauld, Cambuslang and Coatbridge, all conform to. Older stores were recently adapted and had their previous layouts altered to make movement around the stores easier and more pleasant.
In 2005 Farmfoods changed the maximum height of shelving in all of its stores. This was a reaction to a number of staff-related accidents relating to staff either falling off cabinets or falling through the glass lids while attempting to stock the higher shelves. This time a poster was placed on all staff notice boards highlighting the dangers of standing on freezer lids and stating this practice was strictly forbidden by the business.
Smaller stores tend to have two-four checkouts with space for a customer to place a basket onto the checkout for the cashier to access as they scan each item. The company is currently installing conveyor belt driven checkout areas in larger stores. These provide considerably more space to place scanned items and allow the checkout experience to be more streamlined for customers with trolleys as they are not required to lift shopping to the checkout as they are served. All new stores opened by the company as of autumn 2007 have these new checkouts.
Farmfoods stores typically have a small staff base (to ensure costs are kept low) and a large number of regular shoppers. The company caters to a wide variety of customers, especially older-folk and families with young children. All items are individually priced, and many have a multi-buy price (for example, 30p or 4 for £1) and other such offers like buy one get ones frees.
Grocery Items
Although the company initially and still focuses on providing top quality frozen food it has developed a large range of grocery items in recent years. The grocery range originally consisted of only Farmfoods branded items but recently there has been a shift towards selling a large number of items from well-known brands such as
H. J. Heinz Company and Princes, with most of Farmfoods' own lines becoming value brands in their own right.Litigation
In March 2007, Farmfoods was fined circa £23,000 after being found guilty of selling food that was unfit for human consumption. This was a result of a mice infestation at its Kirkby store and led to a company wide initiative to deep clean all the stores especially behind cabinets and in back shop areas. This initial drive was fully completed by the business in around a month of the story in March 2007. Following this it's rigidly adhered to across all stores in the chain. [http://aboutknowsley.typepad.com/news/2007/03/mice_infestatio.html "Mice infestation costs Farmfoods store more than £23,000"] , Knowsley Online. Article dated
2007-03-09 , retrieved2007-03-26 .]References
External links
* [http://www.farmfoods.co.uk Farmfoods Homepage]
* [http://www.fasttrack.co.uk/fasttrack2002/migration/dbDetails.asp?siteID=5&compID=217&yr=2007 Top Track 250 details]
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