Supporting local growers in partnership with Dole Foodservice

Richard Clements, Dole’s managing director

Conversations around the future of food are no longer just about what's on the plate. They're about where it comes from, who grows it and how every supplier can positively impact our clients, employees, communities and the planet.

 

Teaming up with supply chain partners who share our commitment to sustainable and traceable sourcing has long been a hallmark of our procurement strategy.

 

Our partnership with Dole Foodservice in the UK is a great example. Through its network of local farmers and growers, we're strengthening our connection to communities while increasing access to high quality, fresh, seasonal produce.

Richard Clements is Dole’s managing director and feels there’s ‘a natural synergy’ between the two businesses. “Ours is a partnership that goes beyond produce and logistics,” he says. “It helps to improve traceability, support local economies and cut down on food miles.”

Richard joined Dole 30 years ago straight from university and still feels the same buzz today for the food industry. Now, as managing director, he’s seeing the partnership with Sodexo grow and puts it down to shared vision and principles.

Sodexo values best-in-class fresh produce,” he says. “The business has strong sustainability credentials and its teams advocate for locally grown ingredients and supporting communities. These are all the things we’re passionate about too.

A ‘local first’ business model

With 15 depots around the UK, Richard and the team have the network and reach to deliver the freshest produce direct to our kitchens. It’s a business model that Richard says has always been ‘local first’, wherever possible.

Richard Clements, Dole’s managing director

Dole sources at least 21.8% of its produce from within a 50-mile radius of each depot, supporting 276 local businesses in total.  

 

Businesses like Bryan’s Salads, based in Lancashire. Bryan’s is a third-generation family supplier specializing in ready-to-eat salad leaves. The team harvests, washes, packages and dispatches all their produce within a 12-hour window.  

 

In Wales, Dole’s partnership with Cotteswold Dairies supports 14 Welsh farmers supplying high quality, ethically farmed milk. And in Hertfordshire, Cobrey Farm supplies top grade fruit and veg that can be in our kitchens within 24 hours of harvesting.  

Local growers and direct farmer relationships are absolutely critical to Dole and are central to my vision for the business,” says Richard. “There are farmers supplying us now who I remember speaking to when I joined the company. These long-term relationships are the bedrock of our business.

Working in sync on the live events scene

Dole’s partnership with Sodexo began in 2018, originally through our AiP business, Sodexo's brand serving the schools sector. Since then, it’s bloomed and Dole now provides produce across our wider portfolio including local government and business sites, as well as heritage and live venues.

Working with Sodexo Live! particularly has given us the space to hone our operational processes so we can respond to large-scale demand,” says Richard. “One memorable example is our involvement in the 150th British Open at St Andrews in 2022. It drew 290,000 spectators and was an ideal showcase for the finest Scottish-grown produce. The whole operation had to be meticulously planned, and we worked alongside Sodexo from the earliest stage on product selection, menus and logistics – everything was done in sync.

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