Nationwide Produce has been in business for nearly 50 years, helping both supply and serve customers through fresh fruit and vegetable growing, packing, shipping and much more. In fact, it prides itself on this tagline: “We do just about everything in fresh produce.”
Known previously as Bernard O’Malley & Sons and operating out of Lancashire, it eventually rebranded and settled its main offices in Southport. Along the way, it launched logistics businesses Vitaal Europe in Rotterdam and Nationwide Espana in Spain. It opened satellites in Ireland while making its mark through Richmond Farms.
One of its key moves has been continuously ramping up work in Evesham to handle cold storage, pallet collation and distribution. A new depot was created in January 2018 as interest was increasing. And just recently it expanded that facility by 75%, courtesy of a £3.5 million loan from Lloyds Bank. The transformation includes a heavy lean on sustainability.
“The new warehouse space will be vital in helping maximise this opportunity for growth by helping us work more efficiently, improve and expand our product line, and ultimately, provide our customers with an even better service,” says Tim O’Malley, group managing director at Nationwide Produce Plc. “We’re also committed to driving decarbonisation within the company and are proud to say 100% of the power needed to run our UK depots and offices is being produced from renewable energy sources, including our recently installed solar panels.”
Space has increased from 32,000 sq ft to 56,000 sq ft and pallet capacity has more than doubled (900 to 2,100) but that hasn’t impacted the company’s push to get to net zero. With the assist from Lloyd’s, it created five temperature-controlled chambers to increase cooling performance and energy efficiency. Those solar panels have boosted renewable electricity while anaerobic digestion has helped reduce waste.
And Nationwide says it wants to do more, especially as needs increase at home and in Europe.
“As a global importer, and UK and EU exporter, we are seeing a rise in demand for fresh produce from customers across all sectors of the market,” O’Malley says. “Last year, our turnover was above pre-pandemic levels at £143 million and we’re already set to see a record-breaking turnover of £185 million this year as we meet demand for increased volume.”
Nationwide says its expanded Evesham facility not only has the capability to stock more products and for longer times but also the agility to handle more customer orders.
“Nationwide Produce is a fantastic example of a business that puts innovation and its customers at the heart of everything is does,” says John Csizmadia, relationship director at Lloyds Bank. “The new warehouse space will help the company to meet increased demand, while also expanding its offering and improving its sustainability efforts. We’re proud to be by the side of the business as it continues to grow and look forward to seeing the direction it takes for the future.”
