Empire Bespoke Foods is a leading UK importer and distributor of speciality food for the retail, wholesale and foodservice sectors, inspiring customers with indulgent flavours from around the world.
“We are a family business with 70 brands across nine different categories, with particular strength in world foods and food cupboard items,” says Priam Patel, co-owner of Empire Bespoke Foods. “We have three revenue streams- a portfolio of brands which we own, the international brands we operate on an exclusive basis in the UK, and business from private label contracts.”
In selling across these three revenue streams, Empire Bespoke Foods stands out from the competition thanks to its longstanding customer and supplier relationships.
“These are hugely valuable with real tangible benefits,” Patel says. “We have customers who have worked with us for 20 years and a very extensive supplier network that puts us in a strong position.”
Empire Bespoke Foods takes a holistic approach, enabled by its unique team and structure. That structure includes sales, marketing, NPD, technical and quality, finance, business analysis, 
procurement, international and domestic logistics, and warehousing.
“We offer a suite of services under one roof and our own warehouse within that,” says Patel. “We offer an attractive one-stop shop for international brand owners. It’s also efficient for us as a brand owner in our own right, because we get manufacturers who are the best at what they do, focusing on the product.”
The company’s offering includes brands such as Mrs Elswood, Thai Taste, S&B and Malt-O-Meal.
Mrs Elswood, the nation’s #1 gherkin, is packed directly from farm to jar for maximum crunch, adding flavour and texture to everyday meals.
Thai Taste is an authentic Thai brand, proudly made in Thailand, offering a range of meal kits, sauces and ingredients, catering for everyone from experienced to novice cooks.
S&B, meanwhile, is a leading Japanese brand with 100 years of heritage. It was the first to launch wasabi paste in a tube and makes an incredible katsu curry sold in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and soon Tesco.
“It is about bringing the restaurant home,” Patel says.
Finally, Malt-O-Meal is owned by Post Consumer Brands, the third largest cereal company in the U.S. They are a successful manufacturer of treat cereals, the fastest growing sub-category in cereals (Mintel 2022).
But the company brings more to the table than a range of products and capabilities.
“We benefit from a unique perspective. We have deep experience as distributor, retailer, and manufacturer,” Patel explains. “EBF has been a distributor for 25 years. We also have a history of operating multiple retail grocery stores through Europa Foods, previously sold to Tesco. Furthermore, we have previously run a manufacturing business through Burts Snacks, sold last month to Europe Snacks.”
Rising Tides
Empire Bespoke Foods also faces unique challenges as a food importer and distributor, with a business model that is heavily reliant on international supply chains, particularly now.
“The level of inflation has been incredible recently. The Russian-Ukraine war has impacted the food supply. It means that unfortunately, we have had to implement price increases, which nobody likes but they have been a constant we have had to consider every day. We don’t like to do it, but it is part of the role,” Patel admits. “We had sea freight costs from the Far East touching ten times what they were the year before. The delays were unprecedented, and that was before the recent inflationary strike. Costs have been difficult to manage.”
To navigate these challenges Patel’s number one priority is ensuring there is supply on the shelves for its customers.
“The customers and end-consumers need to go to a shop and see our products there,” Patel insists. “That was particularly challenging during Covid.”
The solutions Empire Bespoke Foods deployed during Covid are still just as valuable in the face of dramatic levels of inflation.
“When it comes to inflation we work with customers where price changes are necessary,” says Patel. “We frequently communicate with our customers, and we have had to take margin hits where required. That is the reality of working in this environment for lots of businesses.”
A positive outlook is also essential.
“Stay positive and keep smiling!” Patel tells us. “Remember that ‘perpetual optimism is a force multiplier’, as Colin Powell said.”
That optimism is reflected in Empire Bespoke Foods’ staff. The company enjoys a long average tenure among its staff, with many people staying with the firm for ten years or longer.
“We have got a strong bond between colleagues and a family approach to our culture,” Patel says. “It is a brilliant and committed team. Ultimately, we like to have a laugh and enjoy our work. That is the cultural element that we seek to enrich in our new hires.”
The company takes its time choosing new recruits, ensuring it has the right fit. Sometimes this can mean leaving gaps, but Patel believes that is worth it to ensure they employ the right candidates. This is only the start of the journey, however.
“We are increasingly investing in training. In particular, recently I mentioned how much pricing has changed so we did a cost price increase workshop,” Patel points out. “We retain and invest in the best staff. Recently we invested in an electric vehicle scheme with Octopus to help us be more sustainable and give value to employees.”
Food for the Future
That trademark optimism is also key to Patel’s vision for the future of the company.
“In one word: Growth. We have got a huge number of brilliant initiatives we are working on energetically,” he says. “We have plans for growth within our own brand portfolio, with our managed brands, and our private label brands. We plan to make a splash in the market.”
Within Empire Bespoke Foods’ own brands, it has a brand Patel describes as “dear to our hearts”, the Mrs Elswood brand. Empire Bespoke Foods is launching two new crunchy vegetable varieties for the market.
“It is a great way to easily consume more vegetables as an accompaniment to your meals. We have lots of things in the pipeline for them,” Patel says.
Empire Bespoke Foods is also introducing sleek new looks for Malay Taste and Nem Viet, its range of Malaysian and Vietnamese foods, as well as launching its new Master Cook range of Indian meal kits.
“We have a range of heat and eat dhals for convenient nutritional meals, as well as pea-protein Indian meal kits,” shares Patel, excitedly. “Dhals are rich in protein and fibre, available under brands Master Cook and Wellness that Works (formerly Weight Watchers). We are hoping over the next few years to see real growth on that front.”
And Patel has high hopes for the company’s Icelandic Glacier Water, which has a naturally high alkaline PH of 8.4 from the exceptional source of Ölfus Spring in Iceland.
Alongside this exciting portfolio, Empire Bespoke Foods is also working to become more sustainable, although Patel acknowledges this will be a long journey.
“We are taking steps to become a much more sustainable business – it takes time, but we have made great progress, using the B-Corp framework as a way of independently scrutinising our operations,” Patel says. “We are looking at everything, our packaging, our buildings, and our supply chain.”
