Harlech Foodservice to feed 11,000 Welsh NHS patients under new contract

Welsh contract caterer Harlech Foodservice has announced it’s secured a three-year contract to serve Wales’s 11,000 daily hospital patients for an undisclosed sum.

According to Harlech, the deal to supply the Welsh NHS will create nine new jobs and support its 200-strong workforce.

The firm, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year and is headquartered in Criccieth in Gwynedd, north west Wales, will be delivering 450 lines of dry store products such as canned goods, pulses, and rice to 120 locations across Wales, including general hospitals and community hospitals.

Harlech Foodservice has been serving NHS Wales for two years but, according to a spokesperson for Harlech, this new deal is “a lot more substantial”.

Health, care and education director at Harlech Foodservice Mark Lawton said winning the new business from NHS Wales was a “feather in Harlech’s cap”.

He added: “The fact that we have been chosen as a trusted supplier is a real badge of honour and shows that Harlech delivers the gold standard in terms of food distribution, that we are safe, secure, and compliant enough to supply hospitals across Wales.”

“Securing this contract will also help in terms of our logistics and delivery pattern pan-Wales and will help us minimise our carbon footprint. It’s about shortening the supply chain.”

Harlech’s head of operations Ian Evans emphasised the creation of new jobs which comprise four in north Wales and five in south Wales where the foodservice company recently opened a depot in Merthyr Tydfil.

As well as its customer base in the hospitality sector, Harlech also supplies 150,000 school pupils across the six counties of north Wales and into the northwest of England. In addition, Harlech is a supplier to care homes across north and mid-Wales.

Image: From left: health, care and education director Mark Lawton, managing director David Cattrall, and head of operations Ian Evans at Harlech’s headquarters near Criccieth, Wales. Picture by Rick Matthews