Every interaction with our customers had to be positive
The foodservice sector in Australia has been one of the hardest Australian industries hit during COVID-19, with restaurants, pubs, and cafes in some states forced to close to patrons and swiftly adapt to rising demand for takeaway and home delivery.
The impacts to the foodservice sector varied between states due to different levels of restrictions, and while some states bounced back faster than others – Victoria, where our Australian head office along with six manufacturing sites are located, was the slowest to recover after experiencing one of the world’s longest lockdowns of 111 days.
While there are still pockets of concern, with airports, airlines, and cruise lines still heavily impacted by fewer travellers and limits on patron numbers in some states, the Australian foodservice sector is beginning to recover, with our Foodservice channel starting to bounce back to pre-pandemic sales.
Jeff Dhu heads up our Foodservice business in Australia and says the way our Foodservice business has weathered the COVID-19 storm is a credit to the strong business foundations we have built over the years and the dedicated Anchor™ Food Professionals team.
“Our Foodservice business has consistently delivered a sustainable performance over the years, which demonstrates that our strategy is working and we’re doing the right thing.
“These foundations have allowed us to stay agile and competitive, and equipped us to readily adapt to the challenges we’ve faced this year,” says Jeff.
However, the business’s success can also be attributed to the work that our dedicated Anchor™ Food Professionals team have done to support our customers which has helped protect the business.
“A key focus for our team this year has been on supporting our customers and we set a goal that every interaction with our customers had to be positive.
“The voice of our customer is really important, and we’ve recently been recognised as the number one supplier in the 2020 Advantage Survey. Almost 120 distributors participated in this year’s survey, measuring each company on their partnership, execution, reputation, and vision.
“To be ranked number one is a testament to not only our Anchor™ Food Professionals team, but every stream of the business that deals with our customers, including our customer service, supply chain and logistics streams, and how strongly they’ve supported our customers this year.
“This result has been driven by our customer-first mindset, as well as collaboration, both internally and with our customers, to adapt to the new norm – it truly has been a Good Together effort.
“There is more work to be done to support customers as they recover from COVID-19, but we are proud of what we have achieved so far,” says Jeff.