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bidfood.co.uk/sustainability
Our principles
Our communities Awards
SMEs and local suppliers
We're often asked by customers what we do to
encourage SMEs and local suppliers, as they play
a huge part in our economy, not only reducing
food miles but boosting regional employment. It's
important that we remove as many barriers as
possible in terms of enabling them to work with
us. There's is no universally accepted definition
of a local supplier other than a subjective
geographical reference, so we consider the
size of the organisation, the turnover, number
of employees, product specifications (including
provenance) and market penetration, using EU
SME definitions, to determine which suppliers we
consider local. Most local suppliers fall within the
'micro' or 'small' supplier categories and as such
local suppliers benefit from an extended range
of acceptable accreditation standards, greater
flexibility in their payment terms, route-to-market,
promotional support and sales team engagement.
We welcome opportunities to work with small, local
Supporting SMEs
& local suppliers
suppliers, which is why we tailor our approach to
encourage engagement. However all suppliers must
remain compliant to current minimum food safety
standards. For those suppliers who fall within the
small and micro classifications, we can accept
a number of accreditation standards including
SALSA for products that are not high care or high
risk. Any supplier wishing to supply to Bidfood
can apply via our dedicated supplier portal.
For supply of goods not for resale (non-inventory
procurement), we've historically used SMEs
for contracts such as workwear and electrical
compliance. Often, we see SMEs approach sites
directly - particularly when services being provided
are 'local'. In these instances, we're able to provide the
sites with our standard set of T&Cs which are fair and
provide a good set of principles for engagement. This
makes it easier for the sites to contract with SMEs.