Change is not something that people want to do for no reason, but when Paul Ashley, Financial Director of C&C Group Ltd got to the point of having to review his companies IT systems, he knew from previous experience that he needed it to be as painless as possible.

“I had been involved in a number of computer system changes in the past, and really didn’t want to do another one again if I could possibly help it” said Ashley.

Following a review of the packages available, three were short listed based on the solution that was offered to other customers similar to us in the marketplace. However once they met with the different representatives of each company, it became obvious of the difference between the prospective companies.

Paul Hardy of Freshware, visited us and it was instantly obvious to us, he knew the capabilities of his package inside and out, as well as the exact requirements we would need based on his knowledge of businesses similar to ours. This was absolutely not the case, with some of the other companies and following our initial meetings, we followed up some references, some of which were given to us by Freshware and others were people we traded with who already used the Freshware product.

Due to the day to day grind of their existing system, which was regularly failing and causing a lot of disruption to the business, C&C delayed there decision in switching systems, and when they ordered the system only left 2 months between ordering and going live.

The Freshware system was installed across 4 sites in London and went live on June 1^st, and within a matter of days, the cashiers using the system at each site, were well up to speed on the system, and starting to be surprised that they were finishing earlier.

Once the cashiers were up and running, it was then time to introduce the salesman to a new way of working. Damien Fowler, Managing Director of C&C Group Ltd, was first to try the new method of working. Previously the salesman had waited for dissection reports to be printed, which meant all tickets had to be entered, often the salesman was waiting for these reports to print. Damien and Co-Director Michael ?????? , now have their own screens, and a visual version of their old dissection reports, where they can enter their own prices, and when they have finished the Freshware system automatically sends a fax to their suppliers confirming the return prices.

Pam, who manages the system on a daily basis, is very impressed with the system, not only does it enable her to go home early, because she now doesn’t have to wait for the salesman to finish their work, Pam can work at home remotely if required and has found many of the day to day procedures of Freshware easier than her previous system.

Following the successful implementation of Freshware, Affinitus Group have now been appointed to manage, host and maintain the companies associated web sites and email.

Paul Hardy, Managing Director of Freshware states “we were pleased to win the deal initially with C&C Group Ltd as I have known of Peter Fowler and Gilgrove for many years, we are more pleased that we have been able to roll out the system across all of their companies, and that the staff who have all used different systems in the past have all been highly impressed with Freshware”

In a marketplace that is renowned for tight margins, the management reports provided by Freshware will allow C&C to manage effectively the needs of both the customers and suppliers, whilst continuing to make the margins necessary to run the business well into the future.

In all the jolly festivities, who would have thought that the type of Christmas tree you choose could have significant environmental, economic and social implications?

For a lot of people, the choice to reduce deforestation by going artificial is an easy one to make. But should it be? There is more to this age old debate than meets the eye…

Did you know that real Christmas trees provide a habitat for wildlife, employment for 100,000 people and enough oxygen for 18 million people, compared to fake trees which last for centuries in landfill sites, produce toxins if they catch fire, use valuable, non renewable petroleum to produce and cannot be recycled? And, did you know that for every real, Christmas tree they cut down, another three are planted in its place?

Surprising, isn’t it?

Needlefresh is a UK based company that is committed to providing the best, real Christmas trees for retail in stores. They help to promote the crème de la crème of Christmas tree growers and their farms by making sure only the finest trees are available for sale.

To ensure they provide the best trees, they have recently invested in Freshware; the complete business management system for fresh produce. The software will enable NeedleFresh to have complete transparency and traceability of their products.

Freshware was designed and developed by Affinitus, who have been providing software solutions for the fresh produce industry for over 15 years. This Windows based program will help Needlefresh with everything from sales order processing to delivery routing, making sure all their customers are selling the most well sourced trees this Christmas.

Paul Hardy, Managing Director of Affinitus said ‘Using the Freshware system will allow Needlefresh to run operations more effectively and will allow transparency across all of their processes, this in turn means they can track all products more effectively and increase efficiency.”

So before you dash out to make your Christmas tree purchase, just be sure you’re making the right one.

Following a long search for a system, Twin Trading - a fairtrade supplier to multiples of coffee and nuts - chose the Freshware system in February and successfully went live on the trading system during March.

Managing trays and pallets has never been so complicated, with the multiple types of trays and pallets now in use by a variety of clients. The management of these is now an essential part of the management of a successful business, due to the costs of lost or uncollected trays, which can amount to significant sums. Affinitus have integrated a module into Freshware - already a market-leading software solution for the industry - to manage the acquisition, use, movements and stock of these items, including the production of de-hire information required.

SCSMB Produce and Angus Soft Fruit are the first to take advantage of the new module and utilise it alongside the recently developed order log system, which tracks and monitors purchase orders of all packing materials and equipment.

When Alison Risebro, based in Covent Garden, needed to update the UNIX-based Market Master System to cater for demands from an increasing business and more demanding client base, they looked no further than their current supplier Affinitus which owns Freshware, Chefserve and Market Master.

HB Hawkes were kind enough to allow Risebro to view the new windows-based system in operation, and Alison Risebro was quick to move and implement the system.

John O’Connell states “The new system integrates better with the demands of our clients and the windows-based system is far more compatible with the systems our customers utilise”.

High fines imposed by supermarkets to suppliers can amount to over £25,000 for each incident. For what is a relatively easy mistake to make, Freshware have designed additional module which ensures every aspect of outgoing labels is checked against a central database. The database is maintained by the account manager and authorised by the technical department prior to the product being allowed to leave the premises.

Available on desktop and mobile applications, the system has been implemented at Glinwell plc who supplies Tesco with an extensive range of salad products.

Glinwell plc has chosen to implement Freshware to replace the current in-house system to accommodate the latest technologies. Stage 1 of implementation will be to replace the current sales distribution system and the Sage accounting package, following with quality control systems and handhelds throughout the site to manage stock control.

Claude Jones, IT Manager at Glinwell plc, states, “Our current system does everything we used to need, but we need to update our technology and take advantage of RFID and handheld terminals to improve our efficiency. The new Freshware system can integrate with everything we need it to”.

Sam Canatello, Director of Glinwell, comments, “The decision to go with Freshware was easy. We were able to visit reference sites and many of our suppliers and trading partners already utilise Freshware within their own business. Paul Hardy and his team were also able to demonstrate a complete understanding of our business and the experience with other companies will prove invaluable."

You look down and you struggle to see your toes. So, you may have you gained a few holiday pounds. With a New Year come all the good intentions. You’ll start a resolution to cut back and slim down, perhaps embark on a new diet. But what’s the real impact of these fads on our fresh produce industry and what’s in store this year?

The name that started off the continued diet revolution was Atkins. Carbohydrates were discarded in favour of protein.  But last year the ‘new Atkins’ became the GI diet. This refers to the glycemic index, which ranks foods based on their immediate effect on blood sugar levels.

 This had a great impact on certain areas of the fresh produce industry, because non-starchy fruit and vegetables have a low GI value. So consumption of these groups increased; cherries, apples, grapefruit and pears were all part of the preferred club. However, this was at the expense of others; as with most diets some food groups are favoured, whilst others are abandoned. So within the GI diet, watermelon and parsnips were suddenly frowned upon.

For those who produce low GI fruits and vegetables, it becomes a major selling point and offers a strong factor to focus marketing plans on. But for those who are at the other end of the spectrum, it requires damage control. You need to be able to defend the nutritional value of your fruit or vegetables and sell them based on other factors.

So this is now, but what’s next? The same nutritional things we are celebrating today could be sabotaged with a new fad tomorrow and require defence. It is yet another constant change that we need to keep on top of. One thing we can be sure about though is the increasing focus on healthy eating, which we can guarantee will be around for the foreseeable future.