McCarthy’s is about as family-orientated as you can get in business. Set up in 1877 by Thomas McCarthy as a fruit and vegetable retailer in London, the business changed to a wholesale merchant when his grandson Dan McCarthy took over after World War I. His son John McCarthy then took the reins in 1955, and was followed by his sons, Martin, Peter, Simon and David, who now run the business together.
“It was really good to get national recognition for our regional business, especially by our peers and people who have a good deal of knowledge about the industry,” says director Martin McCarthy on winning the Re:fresh 2008 Capespan Wholesaler of the Year award in May. “It is not something we have ever sought and we are not big publicity seekers, but over the years we have become involved in certain projects that have put us in the limelight, such as sponsoring the Norfolk Young Farmers’ stall at the Royal Norfolk Show.
“We like to support the local farming industry, and we are now positioning ourselves at the forefront of the fruit and vegetable industry in Norfolk.”
Martin maintains that winning the Re:fresh award was a total surprise. Apart from being nominated rather than entering itself, the business has been almost on hold, but by no means inactive, while it has looked for a bigger site for its operation over the last five years. “We have found that Norwich is a terribly hard place to find a suitable commercial property, and we have been sitting on our expansion plans for more than five years, which has been very frustrating,” he reveals.
“Ideally, we are looking to buy a three-and-a-half acre site, and plan to build a two-storey 3,000sqm wholesale facility, which would include a cash and carry sales area, our own working store, coldstorage and a large distribution section - all sealed and temperature controlled.”
McCarthy’s current site provides only 800sqm of coldstorage, and these site limitations have been holding the company back. “We get a lot of cash and carry customers, and could handle more, but the site is too small, and customers and forklift trucks are a bad mix,” Martin says. “We could deal with a lot more customers in general; we currently store 250 pallets a week at the moment, when we hope the new premises will potentially store 750 pallets.”
It may come as a surprise that McCarthy’s is expanding, as others in the wholesale business are typically downsizing and often disappearing altogether. But the company is thriving and, uncharacteristically for a wholesale business, is nothing but optimistic about the future. “We have done very well over a time when a lot of big companies have disappeared,” claims Martin. “Some 30 years ago, we were one of many wholesalers in Norfolk, and now we are the biggest of just a few.
“Most of our new business is from recommendations, and that is the best way to advertise. If you get it right and keep on getting it right, it just gets better and better. But once we are in the new premises, we will start marketing our company with a view to really take the business forward.”
Martin says the wholesale industry has changed a great deal at a fast pace, and that the secret of success is the way the business rolls with the punches. “The rate at which produce moves through the system has become incredibly fast,” he reveals. “Also, a large range of produce is always available 52 weeks of the year. We no longer have to rely on the seasonal sales boost. Now fruit such as strawberries will sell because it is sunny, not especially because it is the start of the English season. The lack of seasonality is a big change and, whereas some wholesalers have seen it as a negative change, we have embraced it and believe that offering choice can only be a good thing.”
Martin maintains that greater availability within the fresh produce market is an opportunity that wholesalers should grasp, rather than work against. “The business is out there, and it has become all about customer service and welcoming new customers in,” he says. “We have an informal breakfast club that happens here most mornings. Customers meet and have a chat; greengrocers and farm shops used to be in competition with one another, but now their fight against supermarkets unites them.
“There is a buzz about the place and, even though we are in a stand-alone facility, we have the excitement of a full market.”
The firm employs 44 staff over three different shift patterns, meaning that there is always a full house at any one time. The four McCarthy brothers have all worked in the different departments involved with the business, and have a good understanding of their workforce. “The unsociable hours associated with wholesale do cause problems when it comes to recruiting staff, especially younger candidates. At our place, staff can work either 3am to 1pm, 9am to 5pm or 6pm to 1am. Different shifts suit our employees’ individual situations,” says Martin.
The company’s main customers are farm shops, independent supermarkets such as Budgens and Roys of Wroxham, and independent greengrocers, along with foodservice businesses and secondary wholesalers. As well as wholesale, the company has been preparing root vegetables on its premises for the last 20 years, providing caterers with prepared packs of potatoes and mixed vegetables.
McCarthy’s has seen a good deal of interest in locally grown produce over the last few years, and has just embarked on a project with Great Yarmouth Healthcare Trust, which will see the wholesaler supplying fruit and vegetables to a van that will travel around schools giving produce to low-income areas. “Younger children in particular are getting into eating healthily and it is a really good thing,” says Martin. “We have always been supportive of that, and have helped many local schools with their healthy-eating projects.”
Martin insists that a great opportunity exists for UK growers to really expand the market. The demand for home-grown produce has really benefited McCarthy’s, and it has become evident that there is a big gap in production in Norfolk. “The problem is that local growers have been disappearing over the last 20 years, and a void has been created, which we are now finding it hard to fill,” says Martin. “There is a huge demand for local tomatoes in this area, but I just cannot source them. In the future, and once we have relocated, we will work with growers to ensure we have the local produce needed. It is a real opportunity, especially with the euro as strong as it is. But we will have to wait until we get the new premises, and then we will start the ball rolling.
“We have working relationships with local growers going back years and years, and we have always given a fair price - we are a family business and we support our suppliers. We understand that we will have to give the grower a living or else we will end up with no local growers.”
McCarthy’s has seen a good deal of change over the years, and the team believes that many of them are for the better. “We have much better transport links to Norfolk now, and better systems for storage and distribution,” says Martin. “We use IT very heavily to drive the business forward.
“We are a stock business and produce is moved around a lot. With a good IT system, you can have control over that, and we have pretty much got it cracked. We have a very good handle on what goes out of here, down to every single iceberg.
“If a customer telephones in at 10.30pm with an order for the morning, we still have an accurate knowledge of our stock level and can tell our customer whether they can have it or not. Some wholesalers will sell their product regardless, but with our system we are controlled.”
McCarthy’s prioritises quality over price, and believes this is the secret of its success. “A lot of businesses are cost-based, and that just is not the way we run things,” says Martin. “We advise our customers on the best produce. We are not at the bottom end of the market and never have been. We provide the best value, not the cheapest.”
The Re:fresh award has given the company that extra boost of confidence to continue with its good work and to go on to bigger and better things, Martin explains. “The Re:fresh award says something about the ability of our business, and to be singled out as being the best wholesaler for one year gives us the confidence and drive to move forward with our plans,” he says. “Because we are a family business and have been in the industry for so long, there is always the desire to push forward and try something new. We have been at the forefront in a small way for a while and, with the new premises on the horizon, this is our time to really shine.”
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