Behind the scenes with a global ingredients supplier

Gerald McDonald Group has a longstanding commitment to sourcing and distributing the highest-quality ingredients across two main categories – fruit juices and concentrates, and herbs and spices. Primarily supplying the food and drink sector, we are based in Basildon, Essex, having relocated from our previous base in London at the turn of the century.

Supplying an array of customers worldwide, we have the capability to blend ingredients at our production facility, while our on-site warehouse possesses ambient, chilled and frozen storage. This capacity allows us to work with all types of F&B manufacturer and accept orders of any size. Our ingredients can then be used throughout the production process, or packaged and sold through channels including retail, direct-to-consumer and foodservice.

I see our role as being that of a facilitator which connects processors and food and drink brands, providing them with access to an array of traditional and new age ingredients. We are keen innovators and are always on the lookout for trending flavours that best serve our customers, and by extension, consumers around the world.

A family-run business

The company was founded by my great grandfather in 1917 who had been working as a trader in the City of London before deciding to set up as a herbs and spices merchant. At the time many of the products he was importing were rather rare and as a result he was quickly able to grow the business. During World War II, we expanded into juices and concentrates after receiving a government import license and our focus has remained fairly consistent ever since.

The move from London to Essex in 2000 was made in order to add greater value to the business, with the additional space allowing us to set up our own blending and warehousing facilities, while also granting increased flexibility. To this day, we don’t impose a minimum order quantity on our customers and this has served as a unique selling point by comparison to our competitors. Warehouse space is very expensive in the UK, so by allowing customers to order anything from 20kg to more than 20 tonnes, we offer a flexible solution for business with varying levels of space and resources.

After studying at King’s College London and then working for a subsidiary of Virgin Media, I officially joined the family business in 2013. As my father had run the firm for a number of years I was already quite familiar with the industry, while my experience elsewhere had taught me new skills and an understanding of how other organisations function. Since joining Gerald McDonald, I have performed numerous roles through which I was able to engage with every aspect of the operation. This process culminated in 2019 when I was appointed as managing director, replacing my father who went into retirement.

As the MD I have prioritised maintaining the dynamic nature of the business and embracing our close-knit team of 48 people in the UK. I am comfortable letting people do their jobs without micro-managing and I have huge levels of trust in the people around me, many of whom have worked in this industry for many years. This year we were named by The Sunday Times as a Top 100 Employer in the UK, an accolade that is testament to the atmosphere and ethos that has been embedded throughout the business for decades.

Managing a global supply chain

As a business with such a long history in the space, we have developed a huge network of suppliers all over the world. More than 90% of our ingredients are imported from outside the UK, while exports to North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia make up around 20% of our sales. In terms of our customers, we work with a number of soft drink manufacturers, ranging from start-ups to firms listed on the FTSE 100, as well as food producers across the spectrum.

The fact that we don’t impose a minimum order quantity has proved a real asset when working with startups that lack the capacity and capital to work with other suppliers only willing to fulfil bulk orders. This is reflected in the longevity of several of our partnerships with manufacturers, many of whom we supported through the early stages and have grown alongside. Sometimes this requires us to take a gamble on a new idea or concept, but it is a key reason that we have so many loyal customers that continue to partner with us.

Of course, we have had to contend with challenge of Brexit given how much trade we continue to do with the EU. The new rules have made exporting much more difficult, especially because so many of our products are not of UK origin. We have found ways to ease these pressures such as holding stock in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, but this still requires more planning and management on our side. There is also more red tape and paperwork to deal with which generally slows down the entire process, even when we are sending out samples of a new ingredient to a client – something that has no immediate commercial value.

Our warehousing capacity is also key for containing supply chain disruptions and market shocks such as Covid, as it allows us to keep larger quantities in reserve. The environment now is certainly more unpredictable than it was prior to 2016 and we have been forced to adapt in response. As a smaller business that prioritises flexibility we have been well placed to meet this challenge, but we continue to monitor external factors and look at ways to secure our processes.

Growing our offering

Following the success of our UK operation, we established Gerald McDonald Asia in 2016 as part of a bid to better serve our international customers. Currently we have one office in Kobe, Japan, where we have two members of staff managing that business day-to-day, but as we further establish our reputation in the region I am hoping to recreate the facility that we have in the UK.

One key advantage of the subsidiary in Japan is that it has allowed us to discover local ingredients and then introduce them to new markets. For example, Yuzu juice was previously used primarily in Asian cuisine, but has now become very popular in North America and Europe. The UK in particular tends to be a very dynamic market where the public is adventurous and seeks out new flavours and experiences and Yuzu juice has really taken off. Reflecting this, our Yuzu juice was named ‘Ingredient of the Year’ at the British Frozen Food Awards in July 2024. This recognition has only inspired us to experiment more with flavours that are popular in Asia as we continue to offer our customers as broad a range of options as possible.

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