A Gwynedd food wholesaler has landed a £1 million five-year contract with a Shropshire-based company to deliver to schools across a huge area of the West Midlands and Wales.

Criccieth-based Harlech Foodservices is now supplying Shire Services, the catering arm of Shropshire County Council, with a wide range of drinks and vending products for primary and secondary schools.

Harlech opened a new depot in Wellington, near Telford, to enable it to serve the West Midlands area and have based five vehicles and their drivers there and that presence in Shropshire was crucial in winning the contract.

It will see Harlech’s local fleet deliver a range of drinks and vending snacks, including products from Shropshire firm Wenlock Spring, and the company is looking to double the number of drivers and vehicles at its Wellington depot.

David Roberts, Harlech Regional Account Manager, said: “As a firm with a strong local connection to Shropshire it’s very important to us that the quality and nutritional value of the food and drink in schools is as high as possible and that only the best is used.

“We also aim to use suppliers local to the client wherever possible as that cuts food miles and ensures that the benefits of the contract are shared with the local community.

“We work very closely with Shire Services and our suppliers like Wenlock Spring here in Shropshire and with other clients across Shropshire, the West Midlands, the North West and Wales to ensure that is the case.”

The opening of the new Shropshire depot this summer was spurred by Harlech’s growth over the past three years which has seen sales increase from £32 million to a record turnover of around £50 million with profit at an all-time high of more than £2 million, which has seen the creation of 75 new jobs.