Formerly Mike Wakefield Transport before the J&E Page takeover, Cargoflora handles and distributes the majority of all non-Dutch flowers delivered into the UK and works alongside its main customer Agrexco in Hayes, Middlesex.
As well as flower distribution, Cargoflora has offered a sideline of fresh produce deliveries for Agrexco and has decided that this is where its own future as a distributor lies.
“Over the last couple of years we have trodden water with the flower volumes that we are delivering, but the business is getting a lot harder,” says Andy Coleman, general manager at Cargoflora. “If we could cut into a slice of the fresh produce industry, we could see a 25 per cent year-on-year increase.”
Cargoflora’s annual turnover has declined over the last couple of years; in 2004, it enjoyed a turnover of £5.08 million, but by 2006, the figure had dropped to £4.8m. This year, Philip Searle, managing director of Cargoflora and J&E Page’s finance director, predicts that this figure will again decrease. “Cargoflora is the main flower distributor to wholesale markets across the UK,” says Searle. “But that flower business is slowly decreasing and this year has been particularly bad. As a result, we have been looking into other avenues to support the flower business over the last 24 months.”
According to Cargoflora, the survival of its flower business lies with the fresh produce industry. The plan is that by including an offer of fresh produce deliveries to its customers, Cargoflora will be able to sustain the flower deliveries whilst also maintaining its high level of customer service. “The majority of flower sales in the UK are now going through the supermarkets and not wholesale, which has had a massive impact on what we deliver,” says Coleman. “We are very much a specialist wholesale market delivery service, so we don’t want to supply supermarkets. We are looking for the niche market where quality is concerned, rather than low prices.”
Cargoflora has a 46,000sqft warehouse facility with five coldstores that have chilling and thermostatic control systems. The Hayes base is also a bonded facility, where produce can go through customs clearance, and therefore be taken straight to the warehouse from the airport. “The flower market is quite small and insular, and we want to take advantage of the wide market that the fresh produce industry offers,” says Coleman. “For the last two years, we have been working for two Evesham-based companies. We have been delivering fresh produce for them and it has worked well. Because of our facilities, and where we are, we can distribute the produce a day earlier than the previous companies they used.”
Coleman maintains that the main priority for Cargoflora will always be flowers, but the combination of flowers and fresh produce will allow the company to expand. “We are the first into the wholesale markets in the morning,” he says. “And we can offer a good service as we are a small, privately owned company. An issue like traceability is much easier to manage within a small firm.”
At the moment, the company services six fresh produce importers compared to more than 30 flower importers, but the combination is already proving beneficial. Cargoflora delivers for several specialist herb companies and has a sideline in cheese delivery. “If it wasn’t for the demand for herbs and cheese in Scotland, it wouldn’t be worth delivering the flowers to that area,” says Coleman. “We are aiming to deliver a 50:50 ratio of flowers to fresh produce within the next couple of years. This is just the start.”
The last 24 months has also seen Cargoflora invest heavily in its future, with new trailers and trucks, as well as new drivers. “We want to get into those markets out there that fit into what we do,” says Searle. “We want to provide the best service we can at the best possible price.”
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