Interview - Graham Sandstrom - Azura Fresh
The good old sandwich represents the ultimate in convenience. It’s portable, can be dressed up or down, can be consumed on the run, comes in limitless varieties and is a healthier alternative to fast food. We spoke with Territories Sales Manager Graham Sandstrom of Azura Fresh and discovered that making sandwiches to satisfy the masses is big business indeed.
FFW: What does Azura Fresh specialise in?
AZURA FRESH: Azura Fresh specialises in the manufacture and distribution of Ready to Eat/Grab and Go food into the foodservice sector by providing a wide range of fresh, ready-to-eat products such as sandwiches, wraps, filled artisan breads, toasties and croissants as well as function platters.
FFW: Are your products made fresh daily?
AZURA FRESH: Azura Fresh operates 7 days per week. All our products are made fresh daily and have a shelf life of 3 days from the date of manufacture.
FFW: In what formats do you provide your products?
AZURA FRESH: Azura Fresh is capable of providing a wide range of innovative packaging formats which cater for customers’ ever growing needs such as:
- Heat sealed cardboard packaging sourced from local suppliers and the UK market.
- Generic packaging as well as branded packaging with the customer’s own label.
- Flexible packaging such as flow-wrapping.
- Box platters and ready-to-serve oval plastic platters for functions.
FFW: Do you have different ranges to appeal to different markets?
AZURA FRESH: Azura Fresh offers three main product ranges under a 3-tier pricing model to suit any budget as follows:
- Good To Go Range: the entry range.
- Classic Range: the everyday favourite range.
- Taste Sensation Range: the gourmet high end range.
FFW: Do you cater to any particular requirements such as dairy-free or vegetarian?
AZURA FRESH: In addition to the mainstream products, Azura Fresh caters for the following dietary requirements:
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
FFW: What kinds of outlets sell your sandwiches, rolls and wraps?
AZURA FRESH: We sell to:
- Mainstream supermarkets
- Convenience stores
- Petrol station stores
- Sports venues
- Hospital cafeterias
- School and university canteens
- Coffee shop outlets
- RSL clubs
- Entertainment centres
FFW: Can your customers order your products with their own branding or labelling?
AZURA FRESH: Yes, provided the size of the business is sufficient to justify the investment in customer’s own branding or private labelling.
FFW: Is there a choice of different types of breads?
AZURA FRESH: Yes, Azura Fresh offers a wide range of breads as follows:
- 650g bread slices (white, wholemeal and multigrain)
- 700g bread slices (white, wholemeal and multigrain)
- 800g bread slices such as Helga’s bread and Abbotts bread (White Wholemeal, Multigrain and Light Rye)
- White flour tortilla wrap and multigrain tortilla wraps
- Continental Turkish bread (oval and square)
- Sourdough baguettes (white and multigrain)
- Paninis and ciabattas
- Dinner rolls and bagel
FFW: Tell us about your company’s quality virtues.
AZURA FRESH: Azura Fresh’s vision is founded on delivering fresh quality products at an affordable price whilst bringing the experience and the know-how to ensure customer satisfaction and product performance every time. Our production facilities are purpose-built to meet the high care production environment requirements. All our sites are HACCP, SQF and WQA accredited and all our products are made to order daily under a strict food safety controlled environment and are hand crafted using the freshest ingredients that are carefully selected from our approved suppliers.
FFW: Does your range change at various times of the year due to seasonal produce?
AZURA FRESH: Over the years we have secured a very stable supply chain through our suppliers’ base and as such Azura Fresh’s product core range is available all year round and does not change due to seasonal produce availability. However, in addition to the core range, we work closely with our customers on launching seasonal products into their stores with the aim to drive more customer interests as well as to improve the category performance in terms of sales and gross profit for their stores.
FFW: Why do you think sandwiches, rolls and wraps are still so popular, considering how many people are avoiding bread these days?
AZURA FRESH: Sandwiches and rolls are hand made from fresh wholesome ingredients with a minimum amount of processing and are therefore considered a healthier option as opposed to the fast food offering.
FFW: How do you make it easy for your customers to do business with you?
AZURA FRESH: We believe Azura Fresh’s success is founded on providing a complete, ready-to-eat, fresh food solution to its customers through supplying good quality, consistent products as well as providing reliable service every day. We offer:
- Friendly customer service.
- Regular visits by the sales representatives.
- A large product range that customers can select from to cater for their various food service needs.
- Flexibility in ordering with next day delivery guarantee.
- Daily delivery into stores.
- Low minimum order quantity.
FFW: What are the economic benefits for foodservice businesses to purchase from Azura Fresh?
AZURA FRESH: We believe they are:
- More cost effective than producing in-house and better cost control especially for large events catering.
- Consistent and guaranteed quality.
- Guaranteed food safety and compliant labelling requirements.
FFW: What are the most popular products in your ranges?
AZURA FRESH:
- Egg Mayonnaise & Lettuce Sandwich
- Chicken Mayonnaise and Lettuce Sandwich
- Ham Cheese & Tomato Sandwich
- Chicken & Bacon Club Sandwich
- Chicken Caesar Wrap
- Ham & Salad Wrap
- Chicken Cheese & Avocado Turkish Roll
- Chicken Pesto Baguette
- Chargrilled Vegetables Panini
- Chicken Schnitzel Toastie
FFW: The humble sandwich is alive and well at Azura Fresh and doesn’t look like waning in popularity any time soon.