About us

Patersons Fresh Fruit & Veg -  “Our Story”

We are a family business based in South West Scotland. Colin started our business in 1993, in a small red van delivering Fresh Produce to Local Hotels & Shops in and around the Gretna area. Over the years the business developed and his wife Jayne joined the business in 2015 bringing with her experience in Sales & Marketing. Today we now have a fleet of vans supplying Fresh Produce, Dairy & Dried goods, daily to over 250 pubs, restaurants, hotels and shops throughout Dumfries & Galloway.

Colin started his career in the retail sector, managing co-operative stores, and also working in hospitality in Edinburgh. He then progressed to become a Sales Executive for Walkers Shortbread, where he covered Edinburgh & the South of Scotland, which is where he met Jayne. Following a chance meeting he secured a director position with Geest, where he started and developed a Catering Company within the Brand supplying the Hotel & Restaurant Trade across the North East of England. After developing this business for a few years, he decided to take the plunge re-locate and start a business for himself.

When Colin met Jayne, she was working in Spar as a trainee manager, and was her first job since leaving school. Jayne then moved to Edinburgh to live with Colin and became a manager of a Jewellers on Princes Street. When Colin was offered a position with ‘Geest’, they had to re-locate south of Newcastle and moved to Darlington. With Jayne’s sales experience she managed to get a position with Clinique in Binns Darlington. Following getting married in May 1993, and Colin wanting to start his own business, she was lucky to be able to transfer to the position of Manager of Clinique in House of Fraser Carlisle. After running this business for a few years, she became Area Manager for West & South Scotland, then was promoted to Regional Sales & Marketing Manager for the North of UK. Jayne worked for Clinique for over 25 years and 2 children later decided to leave cosmetics and join Colin in the family business.

Over the years our business has gone from strength to strength, due to our commitment to Service, Quality, Freshness of our Produce and the understanding of our Customers needs.  We work closely with our customers to understand their needs and surpass their expectations. We are very proud to supply the best restaurants, hotels, bistros and eateries in South West Scotland.

Recently due to Covid-19, we had to diversify our business very quickly and adapt to current demand.  With 90% of our customers closing overnight, we decided to offer local customers a Door Step Delivery of Fresh Produce. The demand for home delivery boxes was enormous, and as a team we were able to organise delivery to homes throughout Dumfries & Galloway and were supplying up to 1000 boxes per week throughout this pandemic. We now have a New Web Site which customers can order a set box of Fresh Produce or we have a ‘Build a Box Feature’ to give the customer the freedom to order what they want.  Other items are also available ie Jams, Chutneys, Biscuits, Flour, Milk & Fresh Bread. Our Son Kieran, who was furloughed from his position as a Joiner with a local firm, has now joined our Family business. Kieran, whilst still at school, worked as a Kitchen Porter in a couple of nearby hotels, he showed an aptitude and willingness for learning and very quickly picked up new skills from the head chef. His attention to detail and being able to work under pressure at such a young age impressed his employer and was put forward for Future Chef of the Year ran by Springboard & Celebrity Chef Brian Turner.  Kieran won the Scottish heat and went to the National Final in London, where he came second in the UK. Although Kieran enjoyed cooking, his passion was joinery and when he left school he started working for CPM in Gretna, where he qualified as a joiner.  His taste for competitions didn’t go away and through his education to become a joiner, he won many competitions in Scotland and was chosen to be part of the ‘World Skill’ Joinery team. Kieran, whilst on furlough supported our family business and was integral in setting up and designing our new website – the very one you are reading this on now.

Our Vision has always been to supply the highest quality of Fresh Produce at competitive prices, deliver service beyond expectations and build long term relationships with our customers by understanding their needs of their business.

Please contact us to discuss your requirements. Our Contact details are: