Fife food supplier raises prices by as much as 75% due to ‘dramatic impact’ of inflation

The boss of a Fife business that supplies shops with a range of foods says rising costs are having a “dramatic impact” on the industry.

Kirkcaldy-based Fife Creamery has long been supplying a range of stores with chilled foods.

But during the Covid-19 pandemic, the firm also began to supply frozen foods, in part thanks to investment in a new storage facility.

However, like all businesses, the firm is now facing a new set of challenges.

Price rises and ‘difficult conversations’

Sales director Steve Appolinari said the increase in costs is already having a big impact on the Fife firm.

It has meant price increases of up to 75%.

He said: “Our customers don’t want price rises, and we’ve spent years not seeing any movement.

“But we stock 3,500 sensitive products and their prices have been moving on a regular basis, some of them dramatically.

“We’ve seen increases on some commodity lines that are up to 75%.

“It’s had a massive effect in the industry. You can imagine how many difficult conversations we’ve had with customers.”

He said the firm – established in 1957 – is helped through those difficult conversations with customers by its workforce.

“We get through the difficult conversations by communicating effectively with customers.

“If you can tell them in advance of a potential major shock, that’s a good starting point, but we’ve also had to talk them through it.

“There’s an element of counselling – just like the pandemic.

“I’ve been so conscious about the quality of staff we’ve got.”

Experience is crucial for Fife food firm

Mr Appolinari said: “The business has done well considering the conditions, but that’s down to foresight, experience of the marketplace.

“Over the years we’ve seen some enormous peaks and troughs.

“Sometimes when you’re moving in the right direction is the time to invest, and we were pre-pandemic.

“We were making significant investments in infrastructure.

“We had decided to branch into new product sectors prior to the pandemic, around frozen food.

“That also meant we’d invested in a new cold store that holds 1,000 pallets. It was ready to open on March 1 2020.

“The whole food servicing market then shut down, which meant we had to pivot to frozen in the retail market.”

Mr Appolinari, who has been with the company for 37 years, said their longevity helped carry Fife Creamery through.

“We were helped enormously in that we’re embedded in the retail market with chilled food,” he added.

“We also went into butchery, and invested in people with experience in that area. It was a bold move in a tricky market, but it paid off.

“We came out the pandemic well invested in both sectors and with a lot more opportunities as business came back to life.”

Fife firm recognises ‘food wholesale heroes’

The firm is also continuing to invest, and recently added 30 new trucks to its fleet.

Each of them features images of the staff and their favourite products as part of Fife Creamery’s ‘Scotland’s food wholesale heroes’ campaign.

It aims to recognise the contribution the staff continue to make at the Fife family firm.

Managing director Graeme Simpson said: “While there remains challenges with rising costs and bumpy supply chains, our team continue to shine.

“Their work and dedication continues to be key in maintaining strong customer relationships and delivering our constantly growing range of services.”