The team at Zampa Fish has over 125 years’ experience as seafood wholesalers to restaurants and takeaways in London and southeast England. The growing business uses fresh food order management software from Fresho to offer clients online ordering and to run an efficient picking, delivery and invoicing operation.
Fresho co-founder Huw Birrell asked Zampa’s Alex Wells what advice he would give to someone considering starting up a food wholesale business in 2024.
His tongue-in-cheek response? Don’t do it!
One of the reasons Alex cites is the ‘always on’ nature of fresh food distribution. It can make it difficult to switch off when out with friends or family. Thankfully fresh food order management software helps move orders away from phone calls and emails that can slow down a fast-moving operation like Zampa.
Back to his advice to someone thinking of setting up in food distribution in 2024, Alex continued: “I think it’s more just to be prepared really. It’s hard work. You can earn a good living doing it but it’s long hours, not a 9-to-5 job.
"You need to be prepared for hard work, demanding customers, demanding staff."
“That’s something I’m looking at at the moment. I want to try and get rid of my mobile phone, to be honest with you, and try and have a bit more time so you can switch off. You know, there’ll be Friday evenings where I might be out and my phone’s ringing and it’s just not ideal really.
Fresh food ordering software lets customers order where and when they want.
“Taking orders when you’re not sitting in front of your laptop, it’s very easy to either forget an order or put it in wrong. Especially if you’ve had a few beers on a Friday!
“But yeah, I think you just need to be prepared for hard work, demanding customers, demanding staff. You would only really get into it if you were experienced in the area anyway. You couldn’t go into it blind, you know, you’d need the background.
“I’ve been doing it for over 20 years, and I wouldn’t necessarily want to start something up on my own.”
We’re grateful to Alex for his openness – and we love his sense of humour! With fresh food distribution software from Fresho to help his team manage ordering, picking, invoicing and payments, we’re excited to support the growth of Zampa Fish in the coming year.
