ZOOM CALL OF THE WEEK
THE BIG INTERVIEW
COLIN MCLEAN LOCAL SOURCING
2021 A LANDMARK YEAR FOR LOCAL SOURCING? THANKS TO THE BIZARRE YEAR WE’VE ALL LIVED THROUGH, RELIANCE ON LOCAL SUPPLIERS HAS NEVER BEEN MORE CRITICAL – AND 2021 COULD BE A MASSIVELY IMPORTANT YEAR FOR SMALL LOCAL
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PRODUCERS, SAYS SPAR SCOTLAND CEO COLIN MCLEAN. BY ANTONY BEGLEY
ne of the many major shifts to take place during the turmoil of 2020 was an increased reliance among retailers and wholesalers on local suppliers – and one man who understood this shift perhaps better than most is CJ Lang & Son CEO Colin McLean. The Spar Scotland retailer and wholesaler works with over 150 local suppliers and that number has grown over the last year as elements of the global and UK-wide supply chain crumbled under the weight of coronavirus-inspired panic buying, as well as a number of other important factors that meant many wholesalers – and thus retailers – couldn’t get their hands on a whole array of products from big name brands. Those availability issues forced wholesalers like Spar Scotland to look closer to home for reliable supply of key products and categories. As well as ensuring availability, however, Spar Scotland and most other wholesalers and retailers learned that there are many other benefits to working more closely with seller local suppliers, as McLean explains.
WHAT IMPACT DID 2020 HAVE ON YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH SMALLER LOCAL SUPPLIERS? We have always been keen to support good local producers, but there’s no question that 2020 and the pandemic forced us to rely on Scottish suppliers more than ever. We work with over 150 local suppliers and the relationships with
SPAR SCOTLAND’S CJ’S FOOD-TOGO CONCEPT SOURCES PRODUCT FROM LOCAL BAKERS.
existing suppliers were taken to a new level in 2020 while we also developed strong relationships with new suppliers and that’s been to the benefit of everyone: the local suppliers themselves, Spar Scotland, Spar retailers and, of course, Spar customers. We also made a number of key appointments including Head of Food-To-Go Stephen Brown and Trading Director Richard Collins, whose vast experience in local sourcing has clearly helped us embrace the opportunity.
WAS PART OF THIS SHIFT IN 2021 SHEER NECESSITY? Absolutely. We had to move to using more local suppliers because it was the only way that we could guarantee the
WEDNESDAY 13TH JANUARY 2021 / ISSUE 38 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 17
