In 1979, Russ and his wife, Brenda, (pictured left) moved to Florida with their daughter, Anne, and their son, Michael, and purchased an egg processing farm. Russ decided to get back to his English roots so he sold the farm in 1981 and opened a British Shoppe and Tearoom in Winter Park, Florida. This truly was a family venture as they were all involved in running the Shoppe until it was sold in 1984.
Specializing in Quality International Food and Beverage.
Contact Us To Request Pricing
Corporate Office: 407-540-3737 | Toll-Free: 800-450-5509
Specializing in Quality International Food and Beverage
Contact Us To Request Pricing
Corporate Office: 407-540-3737 | Toll-Free: 800-450-5509
UK Imports, Inc – Our Company History
UK Imports was established by the Darbyshire family in 1984. Russell Darbyshire was born in 1930 in Liverpool, England. He enlisted in the Irish Guards in the British Army, where he served for 3 years. He then began working for Unilever selling Lifebuoy soaps. Russ then went into farming – eventually managing 4 farms that tended Mushroom, Turkey and Jersey cattle. In 1959, Russ was offered a job in Chicago with the Swartz Paper Company, managing a printing company that used English made printing presses.
Having seen a void in the market for wholesale British products, Russ and Mike, father and son, decided to test the market with imports. Having presold their first 2 containers mainly to small British Specialty Shoppes, they realized quickly that this was the right business to be in and UK Imports was born as a Specialty Foods Distributor. UK Imports has grown from a dream of the Darbyshire family to selling almost a 1,500 mainstream grocery stores, Theme parks, Pubs and restaurants.
Although Russ Darbyshire passed away in 1998, his son Michael – along with a great team - continues the family tradition of bringing a little bit of the United Kingdom here to their customers here in the United States.
UK Imports was established in 1984 with our corporate office based in Orlando, FL. We offer a variety of imported food products from the United Kingdom. We are a full service DSD vendor with over 30 years in the mainstream market. All of our service personnel are solely dedicated to having a thorough knowledge of British Foods.
Our sets are customized to fit the needs of individual stores in a variety of markets. All product selections are monitored to keep things fresh and focused on current trends.
The below picture shows a wide variety of the most popular products we have to offer. We strive to provide excellent service to meet all of our customer’s needs.
