Harrogate Water has been awarded three supplier-of-the-year ‘Oscars’ – including overall Supply Partner of the Year – by foodservice giant Brakes.
The business also won the Brakes Service Partner award with a service level of 99.8 per cent and the Brakes Sustainability Partner award.
Brakes is the market leader in UK foodservice, operating from multiple sites all over the UK and Ireland. Customers include thousands of schools, contract caterers, hospitals, hotels and restaurants. It is part of Sysco Corporation, the largest global distributor of food and related products to the foodservice and away-from-home marketplace.
Brakes described Harrogate Water as a true partner “standing head and shoulders” in the natural source water category.
Harrogate Water CEO James Cain said:
Brakes have over 700 suppliers and to achieve these results is nothing short of remarkable. As always, it’s a huge testament to our team and the hard work of everybody across the business. I feel immensely proud of these achievements and I’m delighted for all my colleagues and for our business – it’s a such a huge accolade.
Any business stands or falls on the level of service it provides its customers and a service level of nearly 100 per cent reflects the excellence and commitment of our people and the investments we have made in quality control and logistics.
Care for the environment is in our DNA at Harrogate Water and so the award for CSR and Environmental Sustainability makes us immensely proud. It follows another year of industry-leading initiatives, including the use of more than 50 per cent UK-sourced recycled material in our PET bottles and our ongoing partnerships with Keep Britain Tidy and Pump Aid.
Harrogate Water has been zero to landfill for a decade, uses 50 per cent recycled content in its PET and glass bottles and campaigns with Keep Britain Tidy, urging consumers to ‘Twist it. Cap it. Recycle it’. The company has raised more than £2 million for Pump Aid, since launching its Thirsty Planet brand in 2007, helping provide communities in sub-Saharan Africa with improved sanitation and secure safe water sources.
In its Supplier Partner of the Year citation, Brakes said:
This supplier is a true partner; they’ve stood head and shoulders against their competitive set this year, providing exceptional service and working hand in hand with us on our sustainability agenda.
The Service Partner citation said:
Through the hottest summer on recent record, not only was this supplier able to maintain full availability of their comprehensive product portfolio, but they were also able to prop up and support the entire water category with service levels in excess of 99.8 per cent, when their competitor set were only able to fulfil on average 70 per cent of the demand.
The Sustainability Partner citation said:
This business has really driven a commitment to packaging and recycling innovation. They are committed to leading rPet and recycled content in their packaging with more than 50 per cent of all their packaging using UK recycled content.
They have also been working to improve recycling and behavioural change, joining up with Keep Britain Tidy to encourage consumers to recycle on the go. Finally, they also support communities and their Thirsty Planet charity, with support from Brakes, continues to save and change lives together in sub-Saharan Africa.
