Operating as a forerunner in the wholesale of British groceries and speciality products, Nisa International currently exports to businesses across the globe. Food & Drink Digital examines its operations and exclusive
relationship with Nisa Today’s
Written by Jennifer Denby & Produced by John Holliman
Part of family-owned DB Ramsden & Co Ltd, which has a retail history that dates back to the mid 1940s, Nisa International operates as a wholesale exporter of British food and groceries. The North East Lincolnshire-based company is currently managed by the third generation of the Ramsden family, Sean Ramsden; he has been with the business since 1994 upon his graduation from Cambridge University and has overseen Nisa International’s growth from £2 million to almost £32 million during the previous 15 years.
“We supply retailers, importers and wholesalers of every size, ranging from small owner managed businesses, right through to some of the larger supermarket businesses in the world with a full range of British grocery products; dry, chilled and frozen groceries and non-food as well,” Ramsden says. “We do business in 120 countries, and we are currently supplying about 600 independent accounts, covering every continent.” Having been appointed as Managing Director in 1996, Ramsden has since been named Business Person of the Year 2004, Young Exporter of the Year 2004 and International Businessman of the Year 2005, in addition to being a finalist in the 2006 Entrepreneur of the Year.
The company’s slogan, “Quality – Range – Service”, is something it encourages across its entire staff and looks to demonstrate to its customers. These three aspects of the firm’s operations are areas in which Nisa International looks to continually develop and improve on in order to better support and add value to the businesses it works with.
Currently, the business offers an online price list of all products with detailed product data, full logistics and distribution management, documentation and administrative support, translated product ingredient labels, range consultation and personal account management.
PEOPLE
Nisa International differentiates itself in the market through its multilingual customer service offerings, sales and operations team, and website.
The company is made up of a group of exceedingly motivated, multilingual and experienced professionals, who are enthusiastic and committed to providing the highest level of service and customer care possible.
The team is organised according to the different geographical areas the company covers, such as Spain/Portugal, in which its territory manager, sales executives and the majority of its customer service assistants speak more than one language and, in some cases, up to four different languages.
A large proportion of Nisa International’s staff are degree graduates. Ramsden outlines the benefits of employing recent university leavers: “We have a high level of skill in the business. Even a lot of our junior staff, working as customer service assistants, are graduates, and we invest a lot in people development. People are extremely important, as we are really a service business,” he says, demonstrating how vital staff are to the company’s success.
“We can’t differentiate our products, because, being a wholesaler, our products are the same as everyone else’s — although we do offer very good value for money,” Ramsden stresses, explaining that essentially the company’s main differential, where it really adds value to its own and its customers’ businesses, is in the service level provided through its knowledge and relationships with customers in the market.
Ramsden continues, outlining further strengths within the business: “I think a lot of it comes from our scale. Because of the size that we now are, we’ve been able to invest very heavily in infrastructure, in the ability to deliver excellent service, in the people that we have here and the knowledge and the skills that they have got.
“The key to the company’s success is really a combination of a very well researched and focused strategy with the skills and abilities of the people we employ.” Keen to point out the internal career opportunities available for progressing through the business, he adds: “Everybody here is on a ladder; there are no dead-end jobs here. Fortunately, the business has grown by very large double digit percentages each year, which has created a lot of growth opportunities for people in the team and that’s continuing. Basically, the policy is that everybody here can progress as far as they would like, or are able to go, and as far as the business can take them.”
ALLIANCES
Nisa International is a member of Nisa Today’s, a buying group of independent retailers, primarily small grocery shops, and wholesalers across the UK, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.
It is the UK’s leading member-owned organisation and provides benefits to independent retailers and wholesalers in food and drink markets, with a £1 billion turnover. “Nisa International acts as the export distributors for the Nisa Today’s Group,” says Ramsden. “Our association with Nisa Today’s, which is Britain’s largest grocery buying and distribution consortium, allows us to offer a vast range of branded products with long shelf life, high availability and short lead times. As their exclusive export distributors, we can also offer Nisa’s range of private label products.”
Norfolkline, the fastest growing ferry operator across the channel, is Nisa International’s primary distribution partner for the delivery across most of Western Europe.
Ramsden elaborates on the relationship: “Norfolkline has enabled us to, particularly in our key markets, essentially extend our supply chain to be able to deliver small loads, frequently and cost-effectively, with multi-temperature control capabilities; so that even with the furthest customer, we can normally deliver within 2-3 working days.”
THE QUEEN'S AWARD FOR ENTERPRISE
Nisa International’s extensive range of products, united with a comprehensive service offering, has resulted in it becoming the multi-award-winning firm it is today. The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the UK’s most prestigious awards for business performance. Winners receive numerous benefits, with worldwide recognition perhaps the most advantageous to business.
In 2009, Nisa International won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the category of International Trade, as well as Exporter of the Year for The Grocer Gold Awards, having previously won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise back in 2004. The firm also won Business of the Year and Achievement in International Business through Chamber Awards, and Food Exporter of the Year through Food f rom Britain Awards in 2008, amongst many others.
ORGANIC GROWTH
Looking towards the company’s future strategy, Ramsden concludes: “There will be a lot of organic growth. The way we look at it, there is a multi-billion pound processed food export opportunity there, of which we have a very insignificant market share.
“The market is being driven through an internationalisation of tastes through more immigration into the UK, and tourism; really open-mindedness from consumers and trade buyers to look at different ways of being supplied and different products that are going into the range — so we’re in a very strong position to do that.
“The main strategy is to keep building and we’re also looking at how we can cooperate closer with brand owners as well, to see how we can grow export markets together,” he adds.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
NAME: Nisa International
MANAGING DIRECTOR: Sean Ramsden
OPERATIONS: Wholesale exporter of
British groceries
ESTABLISHED: 1989
EMPLOYEES: 32
REVENUE: £32 million
www.nisa-international.com
View Digital Corporate Profile of Nisa International in Food and Drink Digital October 2009