July 22, 2025 - 744 views
An award-winning North Wales food supplier is adding new lines to its offer after taking over a thriving fruit and veg wholesaler.
Harlech Foodservice, crowned Food Wholesaler of the Year by The Caterer magazine this year, has guaranteed the jobs of the 25 staff at Oren Foods in Penrhyndeudraeth.
It’s a good move for Harlech, according to Managing Director David Cattrall, who said: “Adding fresh fruit and vegetables to our offer fills a gap for our customers.
“It’s always been our ambition to be a total range supplier and buying up a well-established and respected local business fills a gap in our range of products.
“All the staff at Oren has been offered their job on the same terms and that’s something we were committed to from the start of our discussions.
“By September we will have fully integrated Oren into Harlech’s main site and those Oren staff that are happy to come down the road will be made welcome and it’s our hope that they will all come.”
Oren – Welsh for orange - was launched 45 years ago as Ffrwythau DJ Fruit by Dei and Cheryl Jones from their existing greengrocers in Cricieth, rebranded as Oren in 2021 and for the past 12 years the business has been run by their son, Gethin Dwyfor.
They supply Gwynedd and Anglesey schools and care homes and restaurants, hotels, cafes, nursing homes and B&Bs across North Wales.
According to Gethin Dwyfor, recent news that Harlech had been named by the Sunday Times as one of the best places to work in the UK had given him added confidence to make the switch.
He said: “The company was originally called DJ Fruits but we changed it to Oren and it’s always been my plan to build the business and to have a clear succession plan.
“My dream was for a partnership with a locally based company and that has happened and it was always going to be a condition that our staff could keep their jobs and Harlech have always given that assurance.
“I will stay on and continue to be involved and that’s very exciting for me as well. I’ve run the business for 12 years and this will now be a new challenge for me with a bigger business.”
David Cattrall added: “Gethin and his team will bring the valuable knowledge and experience of their products and their customers they have gained over the years.
“We don’t have a fresh fruit and vegetable offer and this now gives us a total food service solution for our customers.
“It’s a great fit because the Oren operation dovetails neatly with what we do and their ethos as a family-run business chimes perfectly with our approach.
“Gethin’s role will be help us settle in and to make sure we have a smooth transfer of the business and provide our customers with the right range of stock and the right produce. And that will be Welsh whenever possible.”
Oren’s fleet of 12 delivery vans, three electric-powered, have been taken over by Harlech.
The fruit and vegetables, including locally grown potatoes, supplied by Oren to Gwynedd and Conwy schools have been integrated into school deliveries by Harlech in both counties.
Harlech, founded in 1972, has sales of £50 million and now covers all of North and Mid Wales and the North West of England from its headquarters near Cricieth and hubs in Chester, Aberbargoed, Carmarthen and Telford.
The addition of the Oren team will take Harlech’s staff numbers to 300 and their fleet of 65 vehicles deliver up to 5,000 product lines across the whole of Wales, Shropshire, the Midlands and the North West.
For more on Harlech Foodservice go to https://www.harlech.co.uk/
