Victus Emporium is a family run wholesaler, importer and manufacturer of speciality foods, working with artisan producers from across Europe.
Victus Emporiums passion for exceptional ingredients and food products stems from over 30 years of working within the food retail sector. VE’s aim is to introduce the end consumer, to new and exciting products, which will complement and enhance their culinary experience, look great when being served ( and in their pantries ) and be competitive on price.
On the 18th of February 2021, after months of bouncing around with ideas, soft testing products on Amazon, and taking a full crash course on ‘Brexit’, Victus Emporium was up and running.
Victus Emporium was open for trade.
The website had been launched and George was on the road, looking for his first sales. Shout out goes to Im at Fresh and Save in Didsbury, south Manchester, who loved George’s enthusiasm for his products so much he took one case of each SKU and remains a loyal customer to this day!
The first ( of many ) tasting sessions. Victus Emporium’s first tasting session took place at Cheshire Smokehouse, a fantastic farm shop, situated just outside the glorious Cheshire town of Wilmslow. On the menu was Tumaca, a tomato spread from Spain, typically eaten at breakfast time, which was the product that ignited the entire business and is still going strong to this day.
With George having started to expand the business, it was time to upgrade the polo to a van. With the customer base now stretching from Manchester, and the surrounding counties, down to Kent, the need to be able to transport a larger quantity of goods became a necessity,
First trade show.
In the Spring of 2022, George ventured to the NEC to take on his first trade. What an experience it was, not only to meet so many great customers, but to listen to the expert talks and speak with other likeminded businesses on how they have navigated the tricky waters of Brexit and the pandemic.
Victus Emporium’s first department store!
In the May of 2022, George made his way to Norwich to make his first delivery, to the historic department store, Jarrold & Sons. This relationship has continued to blossom over the intervening years, with the Bret’s crisps becoming an growing favourite for this city in the East of England. Since then, Victus Emporium has continued to expand in this sector supplying other well known department stores such as Fortnum and Masons and Selfridges.
Father and Son combine.
A year after trade commenced, Nick came on board to help with running of the business. A company director already, Nick has spent over 30 years working in food retail having supplied the like of Tesco’s, Aldi, Lidl, Sainsburys and many more. His journey into the industry came from his passion for food, having been taking on as a trainee chef at the Gatwick Hilton in the 1980’s before running a café in Chester and developing his own range of salad dressings. It’s obvious to say, his love and knowledge of food has been etched on the entire foundations of Victus Emporium and has clearly rubbed off on George.
The first Christmas with a dedicated range.
This was an experience to say the least; record sales; van breaking down; lorry load of goods from Europe getting a punctured tire; Christmas markets; Christmas tastings; and much more. Christmas is such a pivotal time within the independent food sector and the importance of getting it right is key to any business working within it.
The First Awards.
In the Spring of 2023 VE were back at the Farmshop and Deli show, showcasing another year’s worth of products. Heading into the show they had put forward two of their products for awards: alioli and aioli crisps. Both of which received a category Bronze award.
Great Taste Awards
In August 2023, Victus Emporium received their first Great Taste Awards. A testament to their hard work put in with the manufacturers and product development teams.
The family grows with Mum onboard.
In January 2024 Jane came in to take over the Accounts department. Like Nick, Jane has worked in hospitality and manufacturing for over 30 years, launching a variety of brands into the major retailers and is a company director. The office team now comprises of Mother, Father and Son, with another 10 members of the wider team who play a vital role in delivering a fantastic service and excellent products to Victus Emporium’s valued customers.
Where are Victus Emporium now?
We were originally sceptical having had no real success with foods over the last 20 years but we were absolutely blown away with the quality and taste of the brets crisps and started stocking them immediately in autumn 2022 and they have been such a success to the point that some customers are having to ‘dry-out’ in january!
Victus emporium first approached us in july of ‘21 and although their range at that time was limited, we now stock over 15 of their lines and the volumes are growing month on month. the quality of the products they sell is amazing and the customer service they offer is outstanding. we would highly recommend victus emporium to anyone looking to expand and add to their range.
We are a traditional wet fish mongers, but with the support of victus emporium, we also now offer our customers, a whole range of great tasting ambient products. superb quality, very competitive and excellent customer service we would recommend victus emporium to anyone looking to add value to their business.
Super company with quick and polite service. The products are delicious. I’ll definitely be using them again! Thank you!
Delicious products and speedy delivery. Thank you so much!!
Amazing company ! Speedy delivery, most amazing service… the products are all so moorish ! Tastes always as though you are on holiday with every mouthful of each one!
Purchased the Allioli for the Christmas period. It went down very well as a dip and as a light spread for all them left over turkey sandwiches. Highly recommend
Great products, great service!!
Nothing better than tumaca on some fresh sourdough bread rubbed with garlic on a Saturday morning in the garden. Great product at a really great price. Would recommend to anyone!
Great products on offer as a wholesaler. Cantabrian Anchovies and Pasta di Acciughe were easy to order and delivered quickly. Looking forward to processing my next order with you. Grazie
Firstly the customer service I received was outstanding. George was kind, patient and more than happy to go into detail about the tumaca. Such a kind company that I would buy from time & time again. The most important part - the food😍 So tasty! I used to have avocado on toast a lot but it’s high in calories and doesn’t always look very appealing. Replaced it with the tumaca and it was so yummy. Perfectly blended and just the right amount of flavours. Also had it in a crusty roll with sausages and it’s absolutely gorgeous! I can’t wait to explore more with it. We are going to make a pizza using this as our sauce instead of tomato purée because it’s that tasty! Would definitely recommend and will 100% be buying more once I’ve used mine up.
Incredible product, would 100% buy again!
Glad to finally get my hands on some great tasting Tumaca in the UK, been searching ever since a trip to Spain a few years back. Customer service is great too, really friendly and easy to deal with, thank you!
Victus Emporium provides exactly what I’ve been looking for. The Tumaca tastes even better than it does in Spain at a great price! I will certainly be back for more
Unbelievable product!! This tastes just like it does in Spain and at such a great price! The only other place I can purchase it from is Amazon and for the same product it’s almost double the price. They also have a great website which is easy to navigate and has everything on there - I will definitely be back for some of their other bits!
Amazing! Since visiting Spain two years ago I have been looking everywhere for tumaca! Takes me back to breakfast at our favourite café overlooking the sea. Victous have somehow managed to bring the Spanish coast to my kitchen! 🏖️
Excellent products, price and service. Will recommend and use regularly.
I’ve orders on several occasions from this company, and without compromise the products are not only very unique, they are absolutely delicious I can highly recommend the Tumaca but also try the Tortas and Saffron they are of the highest quality too. Not forgetting the best salt I’ve ever tasted, and yes a good quality salt is very different. In addition to this the customer service is first class, fast delivery always and personal updates on orders. Highly recommend!
