Discover how RD Johns’ forward thinking leads the wholesale and meat industry with sustainable farming practices and an innovative Test Kitchen
The last time we spoke with Andrew Johns, Managing Director and Owner, we learned about RD Johns’ (RDJ) rich history and vast product portfolio encompassing fresh butchery, frozen food, chilled, ambient, and non-food items. Ten months later, Andrew fills us in on recent developments within the company.
“Recently, we made a significant £2 million investment in remodeling our butchery department. In January 2024, two years after our acquisition of Gibbins Quality Meats of Exeter (Gibbins), we completed the integration of the RDJ Butchery and Gibbins teams into our newly revamped Milber site. Additionally, we developed and launched a new and improved website and designed and built our fabulous Test Kitchen. Lastly, we expanded our sales team with two new additions, resulting in an increased delivery area footprint to Southampton and Portsmouth,” he begins. 
Elaborating further on the remodeling of RDJ’s butchery department, Andrew sheds light on the deciding factors behind this development. “When we combined our company with Gibbins, we decided to bring both of our teams together under one roof in a new state-of-the-art butchery department. Since we had a lot of empty space available in our old depot, which used to be our main site, redeveloping it to expand the butchery was a no-brainer. This facility provides our butchers with more space to work, extra storage, and ensures a better workflow, thereby enabling us to continue growing our butchery offerings and services,” he says.
Cooking community
RDJ’s core beef products originate from its flagship farm, which is located high up on the Devon hills and offers breathtaking views of the serene river Teign and the charming coastal towns of Teignmouth and Shaldon. Central to RDJ’s operations, this farm is a testament to its unwavering commitment to the wellbeing of its cows and the land they call home. In fact, the company’s strong dedication to the welfare of its 1200-strong herd of cattle is evident in every aspect of its operations. As stewards of this lush green farmland, RDJ understands that the health and happiness of its cows are closely linked to the vitality of the land they graze upon. As a result, the farm’s extensive pastures are not mere feeding grounds, but havens of nourishment and tranquility where the connection between animals and the land is fostered and celebrated.
Animal wellbeing goes hand-in-hand with eco-friendliness and sustainability, as their health depends on the quality of the environment in which they are raised. RDJ is a strong advocate for the reduction of ‘food miles,’ a concept that refers to the carbon emissions associated with the distance traveled by food from where it is grown to where it is purchased or consumed. As a result, the company considers the extent to which the average person’s food is locally produced as well as the amount that will travel hundreds of miles before it is delivered to their plate. In general, the more food miles associated with a given food, the less sustainable and environmentally desirable it is. Therefore, RDJ strives to reduce its food miles to deliver its meat products without generating a high carbon footprint.
Stuart Clarke, Marketing and CSE Project Manager, joins the discussion to tell us more about the intriguing Test Kitchen Andrew previously mentioned. “From a business point of view, the Test Kitchen will be used by our suppliers in order to demonstrate products to our buyers and sales team. Similarly, by inviting our suppliers to the Test Kitchen, we will also be able to showcase the vast range of products we stock and demonstrate their versatility and various potential uses, hence giving our customers inspiration for their menus. However, the main aim of the Test Kitchen is to create high-quality content for our social media platforms, including YouTube videos, Instagram and LinkedIn posts. By doing so, we hope to further grow the RDJ brand. Our ambition is to create a YouTube channel reminiscent of cooking shows we all love to watch and be inspired by, where our customers and anyone else who enjoys cooking can learn something new, whether it’s a cooking technique, a recently launched product, or even an old product that might have many different uses that chefs are not aware of. In essence, we strive to build a community of likeminded foodies who truly love cooking.
“Furthermore, we want to invite our customers to the Test Kitchen to interview them about their journey and cook their signature dishes. We also would like to hold events in the Test Kitchen where we can cook new and exciting foods and have groups of customers try them while asking the chef questions. Overall, we are very proud of the space we have created and look forward to welcoming many people through its doors,” he expands.
Enhancing operations
In other exciting news, RDJ has recently settled into its new headquarters. Andrew reflects on the process and reasons behind this move. “As a fast-expanding company, our old Milber site had simply become too small to function efficiently and hold enough stock, so we needed to find a new location with more space. Therefore, we moved to our new head office in Ugbrooke Business Park, which offers better facilities and office space for our team and gives us the necessary storage space to keep up with our growth. A lot of planning went into the design and building of our new headquarters. They were designed specifically to address our needs and requirements and to make all our processes as efficient as possible, from receiving goods to shipping them out and everything in between. Our goal was to make our operations as slick as possible,” he informs.
Jon Bolam, Head of Sales, adds his view on what it is like to work at the company. “At RDJ, we are committed to excellence and being the best in our arena. Beyond that, when it comes to our company culture, we are dedicated to analyzing our faults and continuously improving ourselves, rather than fostering a blame culture. In other words, we work closely as a team while keeping a clear focus on what we are setting out to achieve.”
He goes on to shed light on RDJ’s process of collaboration with suppliers, which has allowed it to consistently stay at the forefront of innovation. “We are steadfast in our commitment to launch as many new products as possible to offer our customers innovative and exciting options to incorporate in their menus. For instance, involving our suppliers in our Test Kitchen provides both us and them with a platform to showcase the delicious products that will be introduced to the market and those that we are considering adding to our portfolio,” he reveals.
If this year is any indication of what the future holds for RDJ, it promises to be very bright. “2024 has been another positive year for us, with growth of more than ten percent compared to last year,” states Andrew. “Within five years, the company strives to be “the largest independent and family-run wholesale business in the South of England, with a firm plan in place and a clear direction in which we are headed,” he ends.