Delivering the Best of the West
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Superstock early warehouse, Ledgar St, Balcatta in early 2000.
“I think foodservice gets into your blood… I love it,” Aaron explains. “It’s about helping people. That’s what made my parents want to start the business 27 years ago.”
Foodservice is in Aaron Griffith’s DNA. His grandfather was a pastry chef and owned a bakery in Bunbury and his father was a food technologist, working in the industry for decades before founding Superstock Food Services, which is now one of the largest family-owned distributors in Western Australia.
“Dad identified a gap in the market, that if he provided high-quality service to smaller operators, he would begin to pick up business – service was the key,” Aaron explains.
Living and working in Australia’s most remote capital city has its difficulties for distributors. But where others saw a challenge, Aaron’s parents, Brent and Suzanne, saw an incredible opportunity. Large national suppliers were offering inflexible service and high ingredient costs. So, the Griffiths decided to do things differently.
“Dad was very open to servicing all areas every day, just to give that high level of service.”
Brent & Aaron Griffith in 2009 after Aaron joined Superstock full time.
Brent & Aaron Griffith receiving the Shooting Stars Member Recognition Award from Countrywide at the 2012 Countrywide National Conference.
“We tend to look after each other,” Aaron explains. “Our motto is ‘just get it done’. The customer is at the forefront of everything we do here, we’ve just grown that way.”
It’s a philosophy that continues, to this day, all over Western Australia – from Coral Bay to Busselton and everywhere in between.
Superstock is proudly independent and prides itself on its flexibility with customers.
“Being a local distributor and it being your business, you genuinely care about your customers and the outcomes – you’re not a corporate and tied up in layers of management,” Aaron explains. “Customers value being able to pick up the phone and say I really need this product tomorrow and being able to deliver and help them is important to us, we’re more flexible than the corporates”.
“Because we’re a regular customer who helped them get to market, they keep us in supply so we can support our customers,” Aaron explains.
Aaron’s ancestors have lived in Western Australia for generations and this, coupled with the Griffith family legacy in food and service, has made him a passionate advocate for quality local products and manufacturers. Not only because it’s more affordable for local businesses, but because the quality is exceptional.
“Our philosophy is that we will always support Western Australian manufacturers and products first and foremost,” explains Aaron. “We source and supply a lot of locally owned manufacturers. We want to support them to get their product out to market, both locally and nationally.”
Those local businesses include Manjimup potato farmers, Borrello cheese and more. Such a community-minded approach certainly has its benefits – both morally and professionally.
It’s this culture of mutual support that first attracted Superstock Food Services to the Countrywide Network.
Three generations, Brent, Aaron and Cooper Griffith.
Superstock’s new Gnangara warehouse, a new purpose built
facility, the fourth warehouse in the Superstock journey.
“Countrywide gave us the buying power to be able to supply the local businesses here with products at a competitive rate that we would not have been able to achieve by ourselves,” says Aaron
“I love everything it has to offer for us [and the greater WA community]. We learn from each other and help each other grow; there’s always someone in the in the Network that you can learn from and aspire to be.”
Looking back over his proud career, Aaron remembers resisting joining the family business at the beginning. But he has no regrets.
“Foodservice is my passion now, I don’t think I can do anything else,” he laughs. I am proud to see Cooper has now joined as the third generation, working casually in the warehouse. It reminds me of when I started in the same way, all those years ago.
Managing Director, Superstock Food Services.