What Dunsters Farm does

Dunsters Farm is a UK wholesale foodservice distributor founded in 1963 and headquartered in Bury, Greater Manchester. The company supplies fresh, frozen, and non-food products (over 6,000 SKUs) to education, healthcare, and hospitality operators across the North of England, Wales, and the Midlands. Its customer base spans schools, colleges and universities, NHS and healthcare facilities, hotels, events venues, restaurants, bars, pubs, cafés, coffee shops, delis, fast food and takeaway outlets, and other wholesale caterers.

The core operating model combines centralised procurement and multi-temperature storage at the purpose-built Waterfold Park headquarters with a proprietary logistics network of 100+ temperature-controlled HGV vehicles running 80+ daily routes, supported by a voice-directed warehouse picking system and an ERP platform for inventory and invoicing. Customers order via a telesales team, field account management, or a self-serve B2B e-commerce platform (orders.dunstersfarm.com), with collection available through an Order & Collect service.

Revenue is generated on a transaction-based B2B wholesale model with custom account-level pricing. The company is independently family-owned (third generation, with Managing Director Hannah Barlow), has made no external equity raises, and completed a strategic acquisition of Preston-based fresh produce wholesaler Ralph Livesey in May 2025, extending its depot footprint to Preston and Bolton and adding fresh fruit and vegetable capabilities. Multiple certifications (BRCGS, ISO 9001/14001/45001, STS, Red Tractor, Food for Life, Cyber Essentials Plus, Real Living Wage) underpin its eligibility for institutional catering contracts.

Name

Dunsters Farm

Legal name

Dunsters Farm Ltd

Website

https://dunstersfarm.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Dunsters Farm is a Bury-headquartered, family-owned wholesale foodservice distributor (founded 1963) supplying 6,000+ fresh, frozen, and non-food products via its own 100+ vehicle fleet to education, healthcare, and hospitality customers across the North of England, Wales, and the Midlands.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wholesale Foodservice Distribution

NAICS

Poultry and Poultry Product Merchant Wholesalers (42444), Farm Product Warehousing and Storage (493130)

akta.pro primary industry

Food-Grade Warehousing & Contract Storage (TLAIACAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Chilled/Refrigerated Food Warehousing (0–5°C) (AFAOAFAD), Food & Beverage Frozen Storage (Meat, Seafood, Dairy, Produce, Bakery) (TLALACAA)

Keywords

• Wholesale foodservice distribution
• B2B food supply
• Catering wholesale
• Fresh produce distribution
• Temperature-controlled logistics

Headquarters

HQ city

Bury

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. B2B Wholesale Foodservice Distribution: Dunsters Farm generates revenue by selling and delivering food and beverage products to businesses in the education, healthcare, and hospitality sectors. Customers order via telesales, online platform, or account management. Own fleet delivers products directly. Revenue is transaction-based per order with no single-year revenue publicly disclosed.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Dunsters Farm is a B2B wholesale foodservice distributor supplying over 6,000 fresh, frozen, and non-food products to education, healthcare, and hospitality operators across the North of England, Wales, and the Midlands. Products are delivered via an owned multi-temperature HGV fleet of 100+ vehicles running 80+ daily routes from depots in Bury, Preston, Bolton, and Oswestry, with ordering via online platform, telesales, and account management.

Product overview

Dunsters Farm is an independent, family-run wholesale foodservice business offering over 6,000 products across fresh, frozen, and non-food categories. The core offering centers on B2B wholesale delivery to education, healthcare, and hospitality sectors across the North of England. The product portfolio includes the Chefs' Selections house brand, fresh produce from their own operations and the acquired Ralph Livesey business, supported by a multi-temperature fleet of 100 vehicles operating 80+ daily routes. Additional value-added services include an online ordering platform, Order & Collect service, and a Gross Profit Calculator tool for customers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wholesale Foodservice Delivery Core B2B offering supplying fresh, frozen, and non-food products to education, healthcare, and hospitality sectors across the North of England, with over 6,000 product lines.
• Fresh Produce Fresh fruit and vegetables supplied through the company's own depots and the acquired Ralph Livesey operation in Preston and Bolton.
• Chefs' Selections Brand House brand product line including scampi, mayonnaise, chicken fillet bites, king prawns, potato products, and various food ingredients, available via the online ordering platform.
• Gross Profit Calculator Online calculator tool helping customers work out profit margins and menu prices from cost-to-menu-price conversions.
• Multi-Temperature Fleet Delivery Service Temperature-controlled HGV fleet of 100 vehicles operating 80+ daily routes, ensuring cold chain integrity for chilled, frozen, and ambient products delivered directly to customer premises.
• Online Ordering Platform B2B e-commerce platform at orders.dunstersfarm.com enabling customers to browse products, place orders, view account details, check statements, access promotions, and reorder favourites.
• Order & Collect Service Collection service allowing customers to order by phone, email, or online before 3pm and collect either same day or next day from 6am from depot locations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98.5% fulfilment performance target
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Ralph LiveseycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 May 2025Dunsters Farm acquired Ralph Livesey, a regional food supplier established in 1920. Ralph Livesey operated depots in Preston and Bolton, supplying education caterers, hospitality venues, and independent retailers across northern England. The acquisition expanded Dunsters Farm's portfolio with fresh fruit and vegetables and combined two family-operated food wholesalers with 160 years of combined heritage in the North-West of England. Both businesses maintained their independent roots post-acquisition.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Brakes Group: UK's largest foodservice wholesaler (owned by Sysco), supplying fresh, frozen and ambient products to pubs, restaurants, hotels, healthcare and education. Directly comparable to Dunsters Farm in product range, customer verticals and cold-chain distribution model, but operating at materially larger UK-wide scale.
• Bidfood: UK foodservice distribution subsidiary of Bidcorp, serving caterers, hospitality and public-sector customers with multi-temperature delivery. Closest UK-wide direct competitor to Dunsters Farm, offering similar chilled, frozen and ambient ranges to overlapping customer verticals.
• JJ Foodservice: UK foodservice wholesaler supplying restaurants, takeaways, pubs and caterers with branded, own-label and fresh produce. Comparable in product breadth, customer base and multi-channel (online-led) ordering model, though operating at national scale versus Dunsters Farm's regional focus.
• Creed Foodservice: Family-owned UK foodservice wholesaler supplying pubs, restaurants, care homes, education and healthcare. Comparable to Dunsters Farm across customer verticals, family-ownership profile and regional delivery-led operating model.
• Castell Howell Foods: Welsh-based independent foodservice wholesaler supplying hotels, restaurants, schools and hospitals across Wales, the Midlands and the South West. Closest analogue to Dunsters Farm in terms of regional family-run model, multi-temperature distribution and education/healthcare/hospitality vertical mix.
• Country Range Group: UK foodservice buying group and own-label supplier serving caterers, pubs, restaurants and care homes through a network of regional member wholesalers. Overlaps with Dunsters Farm on product range, customer verticals and foodservice wholesale distribution model, structured as a group rather than single operator.
• AF Blakemore Foodservice: Foodservice division of family-owned AF Blakemore & Son, distributing ambient, chilled and frozen products to caterers across the Midlands and Wales. Comparable to Dunsters Farm in family ownership, regional foodservice focus and multi-temperature distribution model.
• Philip Dennis Foodservice: Family-owned regional foodservice wholesaler based in the South West of England, supplying hospitality, education and healthcare customers. Directly comparable to Dunsters Farm across family ownership, regional B2B foodservice model and multi-temperature own-fleet distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Booker Group: UK's largest foodservice and small-business wholesaler (Tesco-owned), serving caterers, pubs, restaurants and convenience retailers. Overlaps with Dunsters Farm on B2B food wholesale and caterer supply, but operates a much broader cash-and-carry and delivered model at significantly greater scale.

Regional players

• Henderson Foodservice: Northern Ireland-headquartered foodservice wholesaler with multi-temperature distribution to hospitality, education and healthcare customers across Ireland and GB. Comparable in scale and operating model to Dunsters Farm, though primary geographic footprint is different.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dunstersfarm
• Facebookfacebook.com/DunstersFarm
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dunsters-farm
• Instagraminstagram.com/dunstersfarm

Compliance12 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dunsters Farm