Local Food Success
.jpg)
Forteith Foodservice is a distribution business based in Oban, Argyll. The firm was established in 1955 and now employs 50 people serving 1500 trade customers. The company operates in some of the most difficult territory in Scotland, within a 100 mile radius of Oban, from Invergarry in the North, the Inner Hebrides to the West and Arran to the South.
Forteith offers a wide range of frozen, chilled and ambient foods and refrigeration equipment to the catering and retail trade, in addition to operating a licensed on-site butchery. In the 1990s it expanded its warehousing threefold and, in 2003, a further expansion doubled its capacity - it now has a capacity of 1200 pallets, and offers 15,000 product lines at any one time. The company has gone from strength to strength under its senior partner, John Forteith.
Around 50 per cent of the company's annual turnover is generated in the three months of the summer season when the area is filled with tourists.
In the last three years John has begun working with local producers to develop premium branded local food for the local market, sold exclusively by the company under the Argyll brand. He now sells premium lamb, pork and venison among other products, all of it sourced locally. He works closely with his suppliers to help them grow at a sustainable rate and to help them with marketing and quality control.
Please note that you may need to install Adobe Flash Player to view this video, which can be downloaded here.
Download the full case study as a PDF
