Ades

What Ades does

Ades Foods (legal entity Ades Limited, company registration number 10727224) is a UK-based specialty grocery retailer and wholesale distributor focused on African and Caribbean food products. Founded in 2004 in Greenwich initially as a fish distributor, the company has expanded over two decades into a multi-channel operator serving individuals, retailers, restaurants, hotels, and caterers across the UK and EU. The operation spans three physical retail locations (Thamesmead, Charlton, and Manchester), a Charlton warehouse/distribution facility, an in-house butcher, and a factory kitchen producing branded frozen ready meals (Ades Kitchen). The technology layer is a standard e-commerce platform (adesfoods.co.uk) with native iOS and Android shopping apps, supporting UK-wide delivery, click & collect, and a separate B2B wholesale portal.

The business operates across two main revenue streams: DTC retail (in-store and online sales of groceries, fresh produce, meats, frozen meals, ready meals, household items, and baby/health products) and B2B wholesale (2,000+ SKUs sold to retailers, restaurants, hotels, and caterers with 30-day credit terms and exclusive pricing). Marketing is executed through content/recipe marketing, email newsletters, mobile apps, and an affiliate program. The company is privately held with no institutional investment, funding rounds, or public listing disclosed, and is registered in England and Wales with its registered office at 1-3 Eastmoor Street, Charlton, London SE7 8LX.

Name

Ades

Legal name

Ades Limited

Website

https://adesfoods.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Ades Foods is a UK specialty retailer and wholesale distributor of African and Caribbean groceries, operating three physical stores, an e-commerce platform, mobile apps, a 2,000+ SKU wholesale program, and an in-house ready-meals kitchen for consumers and B2B customers nationwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ethnic / Specialty Grocery Retail

NAICS

All Other Specialty Food Retailers (445298), Frozen Food Manufacturing (31141), Meat Retailers (44524), Animal Slaughtering and Processing (3116), Fish and Seafood Retailers (445250)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000), Canned, Frozen & Preservd Fruit, Veg & Food Specialties (2030), Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013), Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYCRAHAEAC

Health Food & Supplement Stores

Consumer Products & Retail/Grocery & Food Retail/Natural/Organic & Health Food Stores

SECONDARYCRADADAA

Frozen Entrées & Complete Meals

Consumer Products & Retail/Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Manufacturing & Brands/Frozen & Prepared Meals

SECONDARYAFAIAHAF

Frozen Meat, Poultry & Seafood Wholesale

Agriculture & Food Production/Food Distribution & Wholesale/Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Wholesale

SECONDARYCRADACAK

Refrigerated Meat & Seafood (Processed/Packaged)

Consumer Products & Retail/Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Manufacturing & Brands/Dairy & Refrigerated Foods

Keywords

• African Caribbean groceries
• Ethnic food retail
• Specialty food wholesale
• Frozen ready meals
• In-house butchery

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retail Sales: In-store and online retail sales of African and Caribbean food products to individual consumers. Products include groceries, fresh produce, meats, frozen meals, and household items.
2. Wholesale/Bulk Sales: B2B wholesale program offering 2,000+ products to businesses including retailers, restaurants, hotels, and catering services. Provides exclusive pricing and personalised support for business customers with credit account options (30-day terms).
3. Ades Kitchen Ready Meals: Frozen ready meals prepared in their factory kitchen including traditional dishes like jollof rice, soups, and delicacies such as asun. Sold online and in-store.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ades Foods sells African and Caribbean groceries, fresh produce, fish, meat, poultry, frozen ready meals, health & beauty products, and catering supplies through three physical retail stores, an e-commerce platform (adesfoods.co.uk), iOS and Android mobile apps, and a B2B wholesale program. The company operates an in-house butchery and its own factory kitchen producing branded frozen ready meals under the Ades Kitchen label.

Product overview

Ades Foods operates as a multi-channel retail and wholesale platform specializing in African and Caribbean groceries and foods. The core offering is the Ades Online Store combined with physical retail locations across the UK (Thamesmead, Charlton, Manchester) and a factory kitchen producing frozen ready meals (Ades Kitchen). The wholesale division (Ades Wholesale) provides access to 2,000+ bulk products. The Ades Butcher sub-brand offers premium cuts of meat. Supporting services include UK-wide delivery and Click & Collect. The product portfolio spans grocery, health & wellness, fish/meat/poultry, baby products, fruits & vegetables, and catering supplies, unified under a single brand serving both retail consumers and business customers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ades Online Store E-commerce platform for online shopping of African and Caribbean groceries, offering delivery across the UK with secure payment options (Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Klarna, ClearPay) and reliable delivery services for individual consumers.
• Ades Mobile App Dedicated iOS and Android mobile applications enabling convenient shopping for African and Caribbean foods from mobile devices, with apps available on the App Store and Google Play.
• Ades Kitchen (Frozen Ready Meals) Frozen ready meals division offering traditional Afro-inspired dishes (Jollof Rice, Yam Porridge, Ewa Agoyin, Dodo Gizzard, Efo Egusi, rich soups, asun) prepared fresh daily in the company's factory kitchen and sold online and in-store.
• Ades Wholesale Bulk purchasing service for businesses and customers offering access to 2,000+ African and Caribbean products with exclusive wholesale pricing, personalised support, and 30-day credit account terms for retailers, restaurants, hotels, and catering services.
• Ades Butcher In-house butchery service providing premium cuts of meat sourced for freshness, quality, and taste, including everyday essentials and special occasion offerings, available in-store and online.
• Catering Supplies Catering supplies and products for events and food service businesses, including bulk items for caterers and hospitality operators.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sous Chef: UK online specialty food retailer selling premium pantry ingredients, sauces and world foods with curated assortment — comparable e-commerce-led ethnic/specialty grocery model.
• East End Foods: UK-based specialist ethnic (Asian/Indian) grocery manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer with branded product lines and multi-channel distribution — closely comparable business model in adjacent ethnic specialty segment.
• Tropical Sun: Long-established UK specialist wholesaler and retailer of Caribbean, African and Asian food brands, operating both B2C e-commerce and B2B wholesale — directly comparable to Ades's core proposition and customer base.
• Otik's: UK-based specialty food retailer with physical stores and online offering focused on Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ranges — comparable multi-channel ethnic/specialty grocery operator.
• Grace Foods UK: Major Caribbean food brand with strong UK distribution through supermarkets and ethnic specialists; competes directly with Ades on Caribbean pantry staples and ambient grocery.
• Cool Chile Co: UK specialty food retailer/wholesaler focused on Latin American and world ingredients with wholesale and online channels — comparable ethnic/specialty grocery motion to Ades.
• Yutaka: UK-distributed Japanese and Asian food brand and specialist range sold through supermarkets and own channels — comparable branded CPG play within an ethnic specialty segment.

Broad incumbents

• Tesco: UK's largest grocer with rapidly expanding world-food and ethnic ranges across store and online channels; broad incumbent competitor to Ades's specialty positioning.
• Sainsbury's: UK mainstream supermarket expanding its world-food and ethnic ranges; competes on convenience, price and assortment breadth rather than specialty depth.
• Ocado: UK online grocery pure-play with broad assortment including growing ethnic/world-food ranges; competes directly with Ades on UK-wide ethnic grocery delivery.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/adesfoods
• Facebookfacebook.com/AdesFoods
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ades-foods---african-caribbean-cash-and-carry

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Ades