Holdsworth Foods will leave the Caterforce buying group at the end of October, barely months after joining, because its predominantly contracted customer base and branded-heavy range left little room for own-brand integration at group level.

That is the core economics of the split, spelled out by both companies: a wholesaler whose sales are locked in through contracts and whose customers want branded products gains limited value from a group purchasing model built around own-brand volume aggregation. Caterforce confirmed the separation follows discussions about "the alignment of the recently joined wholesaler's buying model."

The deal unravels what both parties had framed as a standard membership play. Holdsworth's structure limited "the scope for own-brand integration and purchasing alignment at group level," the two companies said, and they concluded that ending the relationship was "the most appropriate course of action."

What did the managing directors actually say?

Gary Mullineux, managing director of Caterforce, was direct about the commercial mismatch:

"Through our discussions, we have recognised that Holdsworth Foods' customer requirements and our group purchasing model are not as closely aligned as both parties originally anticipated. We have therefore mutually agreed that parting ways is the right decision. We thank the Holdsworth Foods team for their involvement with Caterforce and wish them every success in the future. Our focus now is on working together with our supplier partners to ensure a smooth transition."

Rupert Holdsworth, managing director of Holdsworth Foods, signalled a deliberate strategic choice rather than a search for a new group:

"Following our departure from Caterforce, Holdsworth Foods will operate independently outside a buying group. This approach will give us the flexibility to align our purchasing decisions with the needs of our customers and the requirements of our business. We would like to thank the Caterforce team and their wider membership for their support and look forward to continuing to build strong relationships with our supplier partners."

Why does the customer base matter here?

Buying groups (consortia of independent wholesalers that pool demand to negotiate supplier terms collectively) extract the most leverage from high-volume, own-label-led purchasing. Holdsworth runs the opposite model: contracted customers, which means volumes committed through agreements rather than won at the shelf, and a strong focus on branded products. That combination reduces the overlap between what Holdsworth buys and what Caterforce's aggregated purchasing is designed to deliver.

Neither party disclosed membership figures, purchasing volumes or the financial terms of the original arrangement — so the scale of the lost volume for Caterforce, and the purchasing terms Holdsworth will now negotiate alone, remain unquantified.

What happens after October?

For Caterforce, the immediate priority is transition management. Mullineux's closing line — working with supplier partners to ensure a smooth handover — signals the group wants to contain any disruption to shared supply arrangements before the split takes effect at the end of October.

For Holdsworth, independence is the strategy, not a stopgap. The wholesaler says going it alone will let it match purchasing decisions to its contracted, brand-focused customer base, while continuing to build direct relationships with suppliers.

The split takes full effect at the end of October, when Holdsworth reverts to fully independent purchasing and Caterforce recalibrates its supplier arrangements around its remaining membership.

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By Olivia Hart