Tamar Fresh

What Tamar Fresh does

Tamar Fresh Limited is a private, family-owned fresh produce wholesale and value-added food company headquartered in Saltash, Cornwall, founded in 1988. The company sources fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy, fresh and cured meats, dry goods, and specialty items from local growers across Southwest England (Tamar Valley, South Hams, Dartmoor) and operates purpose-built production facilities for its Proper Sarnies (20,000 handmade grab-and-go products per week including sandwiches, salads, sushi, wraps, pasta pots) and Proper Prepared (20 tonnes of cut/chopped/diced vegetables per week) sub-brands, alongside a Proper Coffee line featuring proprietary roast blends and distribution of Gaggia and Franke commercial espresso machines. Distribution is anchored by an owned EURO 6 refrigerated vehicle fleet providing next-day delivery across a 50-mile radius from Exeter to Hayle, with order capture via telesales (6am–4pm and 7pm–midnight), a trade login portal, and a consumer-facing Tamar Fresh at Home e-commerce site.

The company serves four primary verticals — education (University of Plymouth, CATERed Plymouth schools), healthcare (Derriford Hospital / University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, 20+ year relationship), hospitality (Plymouth Argyle Football Club, multiple hotels, restaurants, cafes), and farm-shop retail — with three operational pillars: core produce/dairy/meat/dry-goods wholesale, value-added prepared food manufacturing under Proper sub-brands, and adjacent retail operations through subsidiaries Quayside Fresh, Catch Fish Chips & Grill, and Applejack Barn. Revenue is generated via transaction-based pricing on quote-based business accounts and consumer pay-as-you-go home delivery, with no publicly disclosed pricing or minimum-order thresholds; the company holds SALSA, Micron 2, STS, Red Tractor, and Laid in Britain certifications, is UK GDPR compliant, and processes payments via PayPal and Stripe. The group is wholly owned by the Barrett and Trenerry families, has no disclosed external funding or institutional investors, and employs 95+ people drawn from the local community.

Name

Tamar Fresh

Legal name

Tamar Fresh Limited

Website

https://tamarfresh.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Tamar Fresh is a family-owned fresh produce wholesaler and value-added food manufacturer based in Saltash, Cornwall, serving education, healthcare, hospitality, and retail customers across Southwest England via an owned refrigerated delivery fleet and Proper-branded prepared food and coffee lines.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Saltash

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Fresh Produce Sales: Sale of fresh fruits, vegetables, and produce to business customers (hospitality, healthcare, education) and consumers via wholesale and retail channels
2. Prepared Food Products: Production and sale of prepared foods including Proper Sarnies sandwiches, paninis, wraps, pasta pots, and Proper Prepared vegetables - both wholesale to businesses and retail
3. Dairy and Meat Products: Sale of dairy products (milk, cream, cheese, yogurt) and fresh/cured meats sourced from local Devon and Cornwall farms
4. Dry Goods and Specialty Items: Supply of dry goods including tinned goods, stocks, sauces, pasta, tea, coffee and catering supplies
5. Proper Coffee Products: Sale of proprietary coffee blends and related products including Gaggia and Franke coffee machines, grinders, and accessories

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Tamar Fresh is a wholesale food supplier based in Saltash, Cornwall that sources and distributes fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy, fresh and cured meats, dry goods, prepared foods, and roasted coffee to business customers and consumers across Southwest England. The company operates its own refrigerated delivery fleet and runs purpose-built production units for sandwiches, prepared vegetables, and coffee roasting to supply hospitality, healthcare, education, and retail customers.

Product overview

Tamar Fresh is a fresh produce wholesale company operating as a platform of interconnected product lines. The core offerings include Fresh Produce, Dairy & Dairy Alternatives, Fresh & Cured Meat, and Dry Goods. These are complemented by two major sub-brands: Proper Sarnies (fresh grab-and-go sandwiches and prepared foods producing 20,000 items weekly) and Proper Prepared (ready-prepared vegetables producing 20 tonnes weekly). The Proper Coffee line encompasses coffee blends, Gaggia and Franke professional espresso machines, and commercial grinders. Additionally, the company offers home delivery through Tamar Fresh at Home and seasonal festive meal boxes. The portfolio serves education, healthcare, hospitality, and retail sectors across Southwest England.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Proper Sarnies: A purpose-built sandwich, salad and sushi production unit creating fresh grab-and-go products for education, health, entertainment and retail sectors. Produces 20,000 handmade products per week.
• Proper Prepared
• Proper Coffee

Quantifiable outcome

• SALSA certification achieved for high-risk ready-to-eat products (April 2024)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Trewithen DairycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 February 2025Trewithen Dairy is a key local dairy supplier for Tamar Fresh, providing premium dairy products including milk, cheese, and butter. Tamar Fresh visited Trewithen Dairy's facilities to understand the journey of dairy from pasture to production, reinforcing their commitment to quality, sustainability, and transparency.
• Voco Zeal Exeter Science ParkminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 February 2025Voco Zeal Exeter Science Park partnered with Tamar Fresh during a visit to Trewithen Dairy. Zeal is developing a sustainable hotel concept, and Tamar Fresh supports their opening day and journey.
• CATERed (Catered Plymouth)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 September 2024CATERed is a Plymouth-based organization dedicated to serving nutritious meals to school children. Tamar Fresh supplies fresh produce for school meals, with joint farm visits and collaboration on initiatives including E-vans for delivering fresh produce to schools.
• Food Plymouth (FoodSEqual Health Project)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2024Tamar Fresh partners with Food Plymouth on the FoodSEqual Health project, which focuses on tackling food inequalities by promoting healthier, more sustainable food options and ensuring everyone has access to nutritious meals regardless of background or income.
• CATERed (Plymouth Flavour Fest)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 2 June 2024CATERed partnered with Tamar Fresh at Plymouth Flavour Fest 2024, participating in on-stage demos and announcing a student competition to design logos for E-vans that will deliver fresh produce to schools.
• University Hospitals Plymouth NHS TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 May 2024Tamar Fresh has supplied Derriford Hospital for over 20 years with fresh, reliable fruit, vegetables, and Proper Sarnies products. Working closely with dietitians to ensure patients receive required nutrition, and supporting NHS staff health and wellbeing events.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Reynolds Catering Supplies: Independent regional foodservice/wholesale supplier with a fresh-produce and prepared-food offering to hospitality and education. Closely comparable profile to Tamar Fresh: family/independently run, regional route density, vertical fresh-produce focus.
• Bidfresh: UK fresh-produce wholesaler supplying hospitality, foodservice and retail customers. Most direct comparable: comparable scale, similar regional/multiple-region model and overlapping customer set in fresh fruit and vegetable distribution.
• Gilfresh Produce: Northern Ireland-based independent fresh-produce grower and supplier to UK retailers and foodservice. Similar regional-independence profile, comparable prepared/whole produce product mix, comparable customer verticals.
• Countrywide Foods: UK foodservice and fresh-produce distributor serving hospitality and institutional customers across multiple regions. Comparable B2B foodservice distribution and prepared-food operating model with regional route density.

Regional players

• Puffin Produce: Welsh independent fresh-produce packer and supplier serving UK retailers and foodservice. Comparable in scale and operating model; operates in a different UK region so does not directly compete in Tamar Fresh's Southwest catchment.

Emerging players

• Farmdrop: UK direct-to-consumer fresh-produce and grocery delivery startup. Comparable only at the Tamar Fresh at Home consumer channel; lacks Tamar Fresh's B2B foodservice scale and infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• Brakes Group (Sysco): UK's largest foodservice distributor serving hospitality, healthcare and education. Overlaps Tamar Fresh's B2B customers and broadens the product-set, but operates nationally with a far wider SKU breadth and chilled capacity.
• Bidfood (formerly 3663): Major UK foodservice distributor with deep chilled/frozen logistics. Competes with Tamar Fresh for hospitality and institutional accounts; broader national footprint and broader category breadth.
• Total Produce (Dole plc): One of the world's largest fresh-produce distribution groups with significant UK wholesale operations. Overlap is in fresh-produce wholesale and supply to hospitality/healthcare; Tamar Fresh is a much smaller, regional counterpart.
• Compass Group (Fresh Direct / Chartwells): Global contract foodservice provider with significant UK fresh-produce procurement operations serving healthcare and education. Overlaps Tamar Fresh's institutional supply relationships at much greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tamarfreshfs
• Facebookfacebook.com/TamarFresh
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tamar-fresh-limited
• Instagraminstagram.com/tamarfresh

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Tamar Fresh