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Unilever Foodsolutions - The team works
In the catering industry, particularly between chefs and suppliers, trust is everything. For a business to be a success, whether it's a restaurant, hotel or catering outfit, it is paramount that the chefs have complete confidence in their suppliers. So, what are the most important characteristics of a food supplier in the Scottish market? How can a supplier assist chefs and chef-managers to continually innovate and improve their business, and what makes you, the chef, choose one supplier over another? Catering in Scotland meets Ed Faber and Ray Lorimer of Unilever Foodsolutions, and finds that there's much more to the market-leaders than just good food…
What is it about a particular supplier that makes them better-suited to serving the Scottish market? Is it a thorough understanding of the client's requirements; a willingness to advise and listen in equal amounts; a commitment to helping them develop their business through continuous evolution and innovation?
Indeed, it's all of the above.
For the past 25 years, Unilever Foodsolutions (UFS) has been assisting chefs and caterers with guidance, advice and practical help in all areas of foodservice. From their UK base in Crawley, West Sussex, to their Scottish sales and support team north of the Border, UFS serve the entire UK through a range of established and trusted professional and household brands.
With a history and heritage that stretches back to their original Scottish roots, the company are the market-leading name in meal solutions, and are key to the success of many chefs and catering establishments throughout the UK and abroad. Committed to continuous research and adding value to the sector and their clients, UFS also sponsor key industry events including, among others, the Knorr National Chef of the Year, the CIS Excellence Awards, the Scottish Culinary Team and the KNORR Scottish Chef of the Year at ScotHot 2007.
Their sales team network with chefs and caterers around Scotland, providing training, recipes and concept support. In short, UFS could be seen as the backbone of their clients' businesses.
Ed Faber, Regional Sales Manager for Unilever Foodsolutions in Scotland, joined the company in the mid-1990s with a long history in the industry. Having trained and worked in food & beverage departments and restaurant management for Hilton and Thistle hotels in London, not to mention various establishments in the Middle East, his background is very much food- and customer-orientated.
So, what in Ed's opinion are the defining characteristics and unique selling points of Unilever Foodsolutions over their competitors?
'First and foremost, our people are the key to our success,' he says. 'The UFS field-sales team are the most committed and professional team in foodservice. It begins with an innate passion for what we do - we are all very enthusastic about the food industry and we all enjoy visiting and talking with chefs and caterers.'
According to Ed, this natural ability to connect with a customer enables his team to illustrate the USPs of Unilever Foodsolutions over their competitors:
'The UFS brands are instantly recognised by chefs as marks of quality,' he explains. 'Our customers are guaranteed that our products will consistently provide them with the best results, and we spend a lot of time and effort communicating with chefs and caterers in order to understand their challenges.'
In catering, consistency of quality is vital and in a sector where image is everything, the key to finding a company that will complement your business lies in identifying a supplier with whom your enterprise can build a solid, lasting relationship.
'UFS products deliver consistently high quality results and our brands are recognised globally as marks of excellence in foodservice,' continues Ed. 'Our product-development and marketing teams undertake thorough research, and we deliver precisely what chefs and caterers ask of us: quality, authenticity, value for money and convenience. Taste-sampling also represents a crucial aspect of our service, as it's vital to allow chefs to 'try before they buy'.
We would encourage as many chefs as possible to watch our demonstrations, taste our products and listen to our product features and benefits.'
Another key aspect of the UFS service, other than quality of product, is the one-to-one attention and assistance the chefs demand to enable them to drive their own businesses forward.
'Primarily the role of the UFS sales team is to introduce Scottish chefs to our existing range. Our team base their individual roles on three key attributes: experience; professionalism; and integrity, and they undertake continuous culinary training to help them deliver professional presentations to chefs.
Tom McCafferty, for example, is a Sales Trainer with a background in the distributive trade and over 10 years' selling experience with UFS.'
Ed's team also makes a point of sharing market trends and their recipe database with chefs and caterers, providing insight into emerging patterns in the marketplace:
'We help chefs to target opportunities on their menus, like creating authentic ethnic cuisine for special occasions, for example. February 18th sees the start of the Chinese New Year, and the UFS sales force will help chefs who do not have a background in preparing oriental recipes, to rustle up authentic dishes using UFS-sourced sauces, pastes, noodles and rice.'
So, what's next for Unilever Foodsolutions?
'We already have a regular stream of new and improved products and concepts being prepared for launch in the marketplace,' says Ed. 'Our customer base is very diverse, and on any given day my team can call on a hotel, university, hospital, MOD establishment, factory canteen or a restaurant or sports stadium, or visit some of Scotland's most remotely situated hotels, restaurants and contract caterers.
'A further objective is to develop the tri-partnership of manufacturer, wholesaler and chef. My team will continue to work closely with wholesalers to provide regular supplies of UFS products to Scottish chefs, so they'll be able to source all their Knorr, Hellmanns, Flora and tea products from Scottish wholesalers.'
'The more we live and work here, the more we recognise that we are here to learn as well as help; our customers help us to grow our experience and understanding of the industry just as much as we assist with theirs, and without them we wouldn't have the knowledge base we can share with others. It's a mutually beneficial partnership.'
This article has been edited from its original version. For the complete feature please see Catering in Scotland magazine February/March 2007.
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