The recent Food & Drink Supply Chain Health Index survey conducted by Culina Logistics revealed that for one fifth of the food and drink manufacturers, waste management was one of the best performing areas in terms of generating efficiency gains. However it also showed that for more than one in four (27%) waste management had failed to achieve efficiency targets.


James Tupper, Efficient Consumer Response (ECR)  learning and change manager at IGD, has 30 years' experience of developing people and business performance in the food and grocery industry across Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. Here he talks exclusively to Food & Drink Logistics Review about why supply chain waste prevention needs to be put more firmly on the agenda of all those managing material flows.

“Whether you are on the commercial or supply chain side, your work can have a massive impact on waste levels in the food and drink supply chain. For example, those in commercial functions can have a pivotal influence on the prioritisation of improvement opportunities through tracking of waste performance across products and trade partners. The range, product and packaging decisions of category, brand and marketing managers have major ramifications for waste levels. The forecasting of, and responsiveness to, demand by supply chain professionals, as well as their management of product flow and stock life can similarly have a crucial effect on waste.

According to the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), 18.4 million tonnes of waste* (costing £17 billion) is produced in the UK food and drink supply chain, and households, each year. Of this, five million tonnes (or 27%) is generated at manufacturing sites, 1.4 million tonnes (or 8%) on retailers’ sites and 0.1 million tonnes (1%) in distribution.

Ideally trading partners need to work together to improve performance, as decisions made and actions taken to prevent waste in one part can have unintended consequences elsewhere (such as increasing overall waste levels). All waste reduction initiatives must ensure waste is not simply pushed up or down the supply chain.

The hierarchy of preferred options for reducing waste are:

• Prevent or eliminate waste

• Redistribute to alternative markets

• Recycle or process into a fresh supply of the same or similar material and reduce consumption of virgin material

• Recover via anaerobic digestion composting, used cooking oil, rendering, energy recovery and mechanical heat treatment

• Dispose of via landfill, thermal treatment without energy recovery or via sewer / controlled water course

A lot of great work is being driven by other organisations to light-weight packaging, reduce household waste and make sure waste is diverted from landfill.  ECR is complementing this work by helping the industry to more efficiently respond to volatile consumer demand and so prevent waste in the supply chain.

ONE — Measure:
To manage something you need to measure it. One way to prevent waste is to focus peoples’ attention on hot spots through measurement, local accountability and communication. 

Across the food and grocery industry there are hundreds of thousands of manufacturing, distribution and retail sites and product items. Identification of hot spots is achieved by undertaking a thorough risk assessment of the supply chain, paying particular attention to where product ownership transfers between internal functions and between organisations. 


TWO — Engage:
Have a measurable waste KPI that everyone can understand and publish it so that everyone knows how much daily, weekly waste there is. A measurable KPI could be one or all of the following: number of singles wasted; weight in kg/tonnes of total waste; £s waste as a percentage of sales. The KPI could be broken down either further to reasons, for example: damaged; out of date; or reduced.

Also creatively engage your colleagues through focus groups and ideas competitions to generate energy. Talk about it! Involve all teams – everyone, wherever they work, has a role to play. Finally conduct regular internal waste audits  and share the results with colleagues.


The primarily focus here is in on reducing waste through minimising over-forecasting. But it is also recognises the business requirement to maximise availability of products. Joined up working along the supply chain will help optimise any trade-offs between availability and waste.

There are a great number of elements that feed into an effective forecasting process, including weather, marketing activity, promotions, new products and seasonality. Certain elements of the forecast may be defined as an ‘art’ while others are more ’scientific’ in nature.

Each input to the forecasting process should be treated differently. Those more ‘scientific’ inputs benefit from taking a more mathematical approach (i.e. statistical forecasting) while others benefit from a more insight-based approach. The common success factor across all inputs to any planning process is the quality of the input. A 2010 survey of top FMCG companies by IGD indicated that planning error occurs from three broad areas:

These include:

• Poor communications which lead to late information, late changes to requirements and inadequate internal collaboration; 

• Inadequate processes which can result in no customer collaboration; lack of internal forecasting process and timely data; 

• A knowledge gap which means it is difficult to forecast new product development, missing information and lack of understanding of customers’ plans.

Food and packaging waste can be reduced by packaging and product design, by:

• Always considering and testing the impact of any packaging reduction initiative on product shelf-life and protection of product. A decrease in packaging may not be beneficial if an increase in food waste is seen; 

• Engaging marketing and packaging specialists at the start of product development with the principles of reducing waste through packaging design; 

• Trialling packaging changes before roll-out to ensure they work;

• Understanding that extending shelf-life by one day can significantly reduce waste throughout the supply chain – every day counts! 

• Considering the use of oxygen scavenging or controlled modified atmosphere packaging to extend shelf-life;

• Looking around, understanding what your competitors are doing and what solutions exist for different categories and markets.

Food and packaging waste also be reduced by having a more efficient product range through:

• Carrying out regular range reviews, looking at sales, volume, profit and waste to enable more informed decisions about your ranging strategy by category; 

• Conducting  some consumer research before introducing new lines to ensure there is a market for them; 

• Conducting regular customer focus groups to check that your product range is still relevant to today’s consumer; 

• Managing your long tail stockkeeping unit (SKU) - analysis generally shows many slowmoving SKU’s generate higher levels of waste due to inflexible supply chains and lumpy, unpredictable demand patterns. Reducing SKU counts to focus the supply chain only on the faster moving products can prevent waste;

• Carrying out product reviews at sixweeks and 12 weeks after introducing new products, to ensure they are meeting your sales and profit expectations; and whether they are causing waste.

The IGD is bringing the food and drink industry together under an overarching target to prevent 75,000 tonnes of waste by the end of 2012, and to also divert a further 150,000 tonnes away from disposal. This follows the successful model begun in 2007 to save HGV miles through a series of measures, including sharing lorries. The ECR ‘miles saved’ project has so far removed 124m miles from the supply chain.
There are currently 33 companies who have signed up to these targets. They are all IGD members and are leading retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and foodservice operators.

Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) UK has put together a new FREE Supply Chain Waste Prevention guide FREE Supply Chain Waste Prevention Guide It is one of the outputs of 18 months’ work by a team from Asda, Booker, Brakes, Kellogg’s, Kraft Lactalis, Morrisons, Müller, Nestlé, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Unilever.”

* ‘Waste arisings in the supply of food and drink to UK households’

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Culina Logistics Long Service Event at Uttoxeter Races

Culina Logistics, the leading provider of logistics services for food and drink companies in the UK and Ireland, hosted its annual Long Service Event to recognise staff who have dedicated up to 40 years of service to the company.

Seventy staff members and their partners enjoyed a celebratory day out at Uttoxeter Races, to mark significant milestones in service to the company starting at five years.

Thomas van Mourik, Chief Executive of Culina Logistics, said: “Each year we like to do something special to thank our staff for all the years of hard work and dedication to the business. Culina has enjoyed much success over the years and this is all down to the valid contributions made by our staff to uphold the company policy of customer service excellence.”

John Edkins, celebrating 20 years’ service with Culina, said: “I have very much enjoyed working as a driver for Culina for the past two decades, and it was great to be treated to a wonderful day out with my colleagues to celebrate this milestone in my career.”

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Eugene Maher

Eugene Maher, an independent food and drink logistics expert, takes a look at the changing face of the Irish logistics sector, and assesses how food and drink suppliers are enhancing their supply chain efficiencies for the benefit of the grocery convenience sector.

“A lot has happened in the Irish food and drink logistics marketplace over the last three years, driven by actions taken by the main supermarket chains to enhance their competitiveness. Consequently this has created significant supply chain challenges for food and drink manufacturers when delivering to the grocery convenience sector, which represents circa 35 per cent of the total food retail trade in Ireland.

Two key developments have taken place. Firstly, the main supermarket chains have centralised their distribution requirements. The knock-on effect of this is that food and drink producers no longer deliver direct to these supermarkets. Whereas previously goods destined for the main supermarkets and convenience stores would be delivered on the same vehicle, this is no longer the case. This, in turn, has made it more costly for suppliers to deliver their products to convenience stores, which are geographically dispersed and often located in remote areas of Ireland. 

Secondly, the main supermarkets are using their purchasing power with their existing suppliers and wholesalers in the UK and bypassing the Irish market to get the best deals. This, coupled with the fact that they can consolidate supplier goods in the UK for onward delivery to their recently established distribution centres, where product is picked for individual stores, means they are gaining further cost advantage over the grocery convenience sector in Ireland.

So how can food and drink suppliers enhance their supply chain efficiencies for the benefit of the grocery convenience sector in Ireland?

Ideally what is required is a logistics solution, which enables food and drink suppliers in the UK or Ireland to bulk distribute goods into a major stockholding facility, ready to be picked to order for individual convenience stores across Ireland, and then delivered via a shared user network to the outlets to ensure maximum vehicle utilisation and minimum food miles travelled across the whole supply chain. By having such a seamless supply chain solution with a central stockholding facility, UK suppliers would also be able to guarantee on-shelf availability due to being able to take orders for next day delivery, and reduce waste by better matching supply to demand.

The issue with such a solution is that it demands major investment, and no Irish logistics operators have realistically been in a position to raise the necessary finance for such a development.

That was until a joint venture (JV) was created earlier this year between the Culina Group, which provides total supply chain services to 90 premium brand UK and Irish suppliers, and the SHS Group. Over the last 12 months I have been involved with what is arguably one of the most exciting logistics developments in the Irish food and drink industry.  The JV company, Culina SHS Ireland, today provides an unrivalled operational platform driven by leading edge technologies. This consists of a central warehousing facility in South Dublin and a shared user distribution network, comprising a 22-strong vehicle fleet, which is wholly owned by the company. This means that Culina SHS has complete control over the supply chain for the benefit of its customers.

In addition to providing a storage facility for all food producers and processors in Ireland for their finished goods, ingredients and raw materials, Culina SHS offers both UK and Irish-based food and drink manufacturers the opportunity to help the grocery convenience chains remain competitive in the food retail sector in Ireland by providing a highly cost-effective logistics solution. This is not only important in terms of responding to the developments in the food and drink supply chain outlined above, but is also particularly critical at a time of prolonged economic uncertainty, which is putting downward pressure on the premium prices charged by the convenience stores.” 

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The Culina Group has taken another significant step into the Irish food and drink logistics market following the appointment of its subsidiary, Culina SHS (Ireland), by Müller Dairy to provide a total supply chain service for its range of yogurts and chilled pot desserts across the whole of Ireland. The contract forms a key part of Müller Dairy’s plans to grow its business in Ireland.

The contract between Müller Dairy and Culina SHS will start from 1 December, 2010 and reinforces
Culina’s growing reputation as a leading provider of total supply chain services across the Irish food
and drink market and between the UK and Ireland. Culina SHS will be responsible for the
stockholding and distribution of major brands including Müller Corner; Müllerlight; Müller Rice;
Müller Little Stars; Vitality, Amoré; and the Cadbury Twin Pot and Trifle chilled dessert range.
At the heart of Culina SHS’s logistics service for Müller is a state-of-the-art 160,000 sq ft ambient
and chilled warehouse in Rathcoole, Dublin, which features a sophisticated warehouse
management system to provide automatic stock replenishment and complete visibility of order
status throughout the supply chain.

Paul O’Donnell, operations director at Culina SHS Ireland, says: "We are delighted to have secured
a contract with Müller as they have been a major success story in the Irish market. The company’s
portfolio of dairy products has shown significant growth in both Northern Ireland and Republic of
Ireland and generate 400,000 pot sales a day.1 Already established as the No2 yogurt brand in
Northern Ireland2, Müller is poised to move into the No 2 slot in the Republic of Ireland. We are
looking forward to playing a key part in their future success."

“The contract with a big brand name, such as Müller, is also significant in that it reflects the fact that
we now provide an operational platform that offers a highly cost efficient logistics solution to every
sector of the Irish grocery market, from major retailer NDCs through to the hard-to-reach grocery
convenience sector.”

O’Donnell adds: “In recent times, the centralisation of distribution requirements by the major
retailers in Ireland has meant that it has been more challenging for food and drink manufacturers to
deliver their products to convenience stores cost efficiently. Whereas before they were distributing
direct to the main supermarkets and convenience stores across Ireland they are now only
undertaking the latter, which makes it more expensive to service. Our warehousing and shared user
distribution operation, driven by leading edge technology, ensures a cost effective solution, despite
the move to centralisation by the supermarkets, combined with the geographical challenges in
Ireland and the associated distances involved. In doing so, we can enable food and drink producers
to help the convenience sector remain competitive in today’s challenging economic climate, which
continues to put downward pressure on the premium prices charged by convenience stores.”

Gharry Eccles, Müller Dairy’s CEO, says: “We have very ambitious plans to escalate the
development of our business in Ireland in the medium and long-term."

“At this pivotal stage in our expansion plans, we felt it was appropriate to explore all avenues to
ensure our logistics operation is geared towards providing the most effective and cost-efficient
service to our widening customer base."

“Following the opening of its new ambient, chilled and temperature controlled warehouse facility near
Dublin earlier this year, Culina SHS is now in a position to offer a seamless, one-stop-shop supply
chain solution covering the whole of Ireland. With this facility in place, we believe that Culina SHS is
operationally geared to deliver our future logistics requirements.”

1 Source: Combined Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. Internal sales data.

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Culina Logistics the leading provider of supply chain services to food and drink companies in the UK, has announced a circa 25% increase in turnover for the last financial year, despite the tough economic conditions.

Turnover was up from £97.285m to £121.431m in the financial year ending December 2009, reflecting the fact that Culina Logistics secured 25 new accounts over the 12 month period. Operating profit was £1.578m, down from £2.240m the previous year due to significant investment in the expansion of business during the 12 months with the opening of a new Bristol depot and the acquisition of Wincanton Chilled Ltd.

Thomas van Mourik Chief Executive, Culina Logistics

Says Thomas van Mourik, Chief Executive of Culina Logistics: “This was a challenging year, operating in one of the worst economic environments in the UK for a long time. However we successfully delivered on our expectations in terms of turnover, profit and cash flow."

“It was a year of significant investment for the company, including the acquisition and integration of the Wincanton chilled business. The decision to buy Wincanton Chilled has been proved to be the right one and we have now maximised synergies between the two operations and eliminated all transition costs."

In summary, van Mourik added: “Significantly these results demonstrate the financial strength of our business, providing complete peace of mind to our customers at a time of great economic uncertainty. Not only are we increasing revenues and returning a profit, our debt is very low and we continue to invest in the business to help drive further efficiencies in the supply chain for the benefit of our customers."

“As to the year ahead we are cautiously optimistic as we expect to see the return on investment in the acquisition and integration of Wincanton’s chilled business. We will also continue to drive efficiencies through our own operations recognising the pressures our customers are under to reduce supply chain costs and so that we remain resilient to the continuing challenging economy.”

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The Food & Drink Supply Chain Health Index report, produced by Culina Logistics, flags up the potential for greater efficiencies in the food and drink sector's supply chain. Food & Drink Logistics Review talks to the industry about the challenges of, and opportunities for, driving new efficiencies in the supply chain.

The Index revealed that more than 1 in 4 (43.8%) of logistics management interviewed presented a mixed picture of efficiency performance with some areas of the supply chain on target/above target but some below, suggesting room for improvement.

For James Lancaster, Supply Chain Director at Lactalis Nestlé, the three key challenges and therefore opportunities for additional efficiency gains in the supply chain for the business are in the areas of waste management, warehousing and primary transport.

On waste management, James says: "Our supply chain is constrained by shelf life and in the current highly challenging retail environment, with the demands of promotions, pricing and lead-time to name a few, managing waste levels is a significant challenge and potentially a big cost drain if not managed effectively. In tackling this challenge we have focussed on retailer collaboration to ensure the best possible forecasting so as to improve service and minimise waste."

"We are also trying to focus on flexible manufacturing to reduce waste. Manufacturing historically has been about optimising efficiencies — whilst this certainly improves efficiency in the factories, it is not aligned to the needs of the commercial teams who need flexibility and quick response times to increase, reduce or cut production at very short notice. The balance between efficiency and flexibility is one that will take time to establish and in the short term it is about ensuring we raise awareness across the supply chain of current retailer practices and the consequences of inflexibilty.”

With regards to warehousing efficiencies, James believes that the key to optimisation is moving full pallets where appropriate, even if retailers do not want to hold stock. "The fewer times your case or tray is touched, the more efficient your supply chain is," James points out.

This is a point echoed by Kevin Williams, Supply Chain Director at Müller Dairy, who believes unfilled pallet cubes is one of the key inefficiencies in the supply chain. He's currently addressing this issue by working with retailers to find a mutual solution.

He says: "Retailers are holding less stock in their supply chains, which can result in smaller deliveries for suppliers. This means that logistics providers are having to manually pick cases off full pallets and then transport less than the cube potential to meet retailers’ requirements. Müller believes a collaborative approach is the key to driving such waste out of the overall supply chain with knowledgeable people throughout the chain — suppliers, logistics providers and retailers — talking to each other regularly."

James also calls for a unified type of pallet across Europe to enhance warehousing efficiencies. He says: "Currently we have a multitude of pallet types and as a result our product requires intervention before it is fit for trade. This is a drain of resource that is frustrating."

On primary transport, James sees the key factors which will lead to greater efficiencies as better vehicle utilisation, the use of double deck trailers and enhanced cooperation between non-competing organisations who are bringing in volumes from similar geographic areas to share efficiencies. As for alternative transport solutions, he says: "Road trains operate across other countries and enable more cost effective transport solutions. In the UK we are limited by legislation that restricts vehicle size but a more pragmatic approach here would enable large efficiencies to be harnessed."

Thomas van Mourik, Chief Executive of Culina Logistics, says: "There is no doubt that we are all operating in a very tough economic climate, and it appears that uncertainty and austerity are going to be with us for the foreseeable future. This in turn is and will put more pressure on the supply chains of the food and drink industry to perform and for logistics providers to come up with the answers.  Our Index survey showed that those in supply chain management are responding to the challenging environment with one in five respondents (20.8%) indicating that the outcomes of their efficiency drives over the last year were above target and that around a third had reported efficiency gains of between 6 and 15%. Moreover the majority of respondents were looking for efficiency gains of between 6-10% over the coming year."

With regards to opportunities for efficiency improvement in the future, Thomas singles out contract packing and reworking as a  key area that he believes has been traditionally overlooked.

He says: "Bringing contract packing activities to the warehouse rather than having it undertaken off site can provide significant efficiencies as it reduces 'food miles'. Also international food and drink suppliers can benefit from having their contract packing undertaken in the UK, closer to the final delivery point rather than doing at their own sites and using up vital capacity in their vehicles."

"That's why we have created a specialist food contract packing company Culina IPS LLP to offer contract packing services at all of our  ten warehousing sites, negating the need for goods to be transported to and from another location for packing. In doing so we are helping suppliers meet the increasing demand for products to be delivered in shelf ready formats."

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The Food & Drink Supply Chain Health Index Survey, a first for the industry and undertaken by Culina Logistics, gained feedback from logistics management at 50 leading food and drink companies regarding the efficiency performance of their supply chains in the last year and targets and plans for the next 12 months.

Download Health Index Report PDF

More than half of the respondents (55.8%) indicated that there were some areas of the supply chain that had underperformed in terms of creating cost efficiencies during the last 12 months. 43.8% of respondents presented a mixed picture, saying that some areas of the supply chain were on target/above target but also some areas below target. However one in five (20.8%) indicated that the outcomes of their efficiency drives over the last year were above target.

With regards to the cost efficiencies gained in the last 12 months the majority (33.3%) reported efficiency gains of between 1-5%, followed by 6-10% (22.2% of respondents) and 11-15% (11.1% of respondents). 15.6% of respondents said their organisations had achieved efficiencies of between 16-25%.

Unsurprisingly most cost efficiency gains were made in the core supply chain activities, with primary transport coming out on top, with 46.7% of respondents selecting this area, followed by secondary transport and warehousing (both 26.7%). Waste management also featured in the top four performing areas (20% of respondents) and added value services, such as product reworking and pallet management, achieved best results for one in ten of the respondents.

However, whilst these areas performed best, they were also seen as underachieving, again suggesting that respondents felt there was more potential for improvement. Warehousing (42.3% of respondents) was seen as the biggest under achiever when it came to driving further efficiencies, followed by secondary transport (30.8%), waste management (26.9%), pallet management/IT systems (both 19.2%) and product reworking (11.5%).

Nearly a third of respondents reported that their companies had identified new cost efficiencies for the first time, however the majority (69.8%) are making efficiency improvements in the same areas.

Maintaining competitiveness in the marketplace was seen as the biggest factor for driving up efficiencies in the supply chain, followed by continued pressure from retailers, downward pressure on prices and the economic climate.

The study also revealed the key focuses of the year ahead in terms of achieving efficiencies in the supply chain. These were still the core areas, with primary transport coming out on top (45.5% of all respondents), despite this being the best performing area in the last year. Primary transport was closely followed by secondary transport and warehousing, 43.2% and 38.6% of respondents respectively. Waste management was seen as increasingly important with nearly a fifth of respondents indicating that this would be one of two main focuses over the next 12 months.

Many respondents are in an upbeat mood about the prospects for the year ahead. Nearly two thirds of respondents (64.3%) are looking to generate cost efficiencies in the next year in order to grow on the success of their businesses over the last year, despite the economic downturn; whilst more than one in five (21.4%) saw cost efficiency gains as putting the company in the best position for when economic recovery returns.

However, more than one in ten reported that they are driving efficiencies to ensure survival during the current harsh trading conditions due to the continued challenging economic climate.

The majority of respondents (38.6%) are targeting cost efficiency gains of between 6-10% and more than a fifth (22.7%) are being even more bullish and targeting 11-20% gains. However, more than a quarter (27.3%) are being more cautious, indicating targets of between 1-5%.

Says Thomas van Mourik, Chief Executive of Culina Logistics: “The tough economic climate for the last two years and continuing uncertainty has put an ever increasing focus on efficiencies in the supply chain".

“The Food and Drink Supply Chain Health Index has been designed to provide a barometer for supply chain efficiencies across the food and drink sector, allowing manufacturers to benchmark their own performance. In doing so it explores efficiency performance against targets over the last year and efficiency targets and plans for the next 12 months.”

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Culina Logistics, the leading provider of logistics services for food and drink companies in the UK and Ireland, has secured a new contract with one of the world’s leading food and beverages manufacturers.

Kraft Foods, which produces brands such as Dairylea and Philadelphia, has awarded Culina Logistics a contract renewal to provide national distribution and warehousing for its wide range of products.

On the appointment of Culina Logistics, Duncan Campbell, Northern Distribution Manager for Kraft Foods Europe, said: “With so many brands and products, it’s important these are delivered to retailers without compromising their quality and shelf life. Working with Culina Logistics for the past 14 years has demonstrated their commitment to providing a fast and efficient service and we’re pleased to continue our working relationship with them.”

Kraft Food’s goods will be warehoused at Culina’s depots where orders will be processed and stock movements managed. Orders will subsequently be distributed to Kraft Food’s UK distribution base, which includes many major food retailers.

Andy Newnes, National Account Manager at Culina Logistics, said: “The extension to our partnership with Kraft Foods reflects the high quality service that we consistently offer our customers. This is complimented further by the flexible, efficient and added value services that we can offer them.”

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Granini and Little Dish have selected Culina Logistics to effectively and efficiently service their UK-wide customer retailers.
These business wins enable Culina, the leading provider of logistics services for food and drink companies in the UK and Ireland, to broaden its services and relationships with these key clients.

Andy Newnes, national account manager, Culina Logistics, says: “We’re thrilled that fantastic overseas brands like Granini turn to us to get their products to market in the UK and that our clients see true value in working with us. With many of our clients, such as Little Dish, we’ve grown and developed the account from the initial contract into expanded, long-term, trusted relationships.”

Granini, an international premium brand and one of the best-known fruit juice brands in Europe, selected Culina to help it replicate its European success within the UK market.

“Our high-quality fruit juices are available in 50 countries worldwide, and we have recently launched a premium quality chilled product,” says Steve Wheatley, Granini UK Managing Director. “The Granini brand is about delivering the highest quality and best tasting juice, and we need a logistics provider that can deliver our brand to UK consumers. We know Culina can do that.”

Little Dish, the manufacturer of fresh and healthy food for kids, has also chosen Culina to support the company’s toddler and baby food products by providing total distribution services into major retailers.

“Since April 2009, Culina has supported our toddler meals business coming out of production sites in Salisbury and then Consett, Durham, and we continue to be impressed with the company’s commitment to excellent service,” says Dave Voss, head of operations, Little Dish. “Because of this, we selected Culina to support our baby food products, which are manufactured in our new production site in south Wales.”

Newnes continues: “We have a strong commitment to provide the best customer service and the most efficient warehousing and distribution services. We work within a very competitive marketplace so we continue to focus on being a quality provider, helping to do what’s right for our clients and creating cost effective and sustainable supply chains.”

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First Milk, which handles 1.6 billion litres of milk every year and is the UK's cheddar specialist, has awarded Culina Logistics a contract to provide UK-wide distribution and warehousing for its many dairy products.

On the appointment of Culina Logistics, Sue Wilson, general manager: procurement First Milk said: “As a farmer owned co-operative, it is important that we deliver sustainable returns to our farmer Members. Working with Culina Logistics will allow us to do this by delivering an economic and efficient service and a flexible platform for future growth.”

Culina Logistics will predominantly collect packed cheese from First Milk’s site in Maelor, near Wrexham. The goods will then be warehoused at Culina’s depot in Stafford with picked orders subsequently being delivered to major food retailers, food processors and food service organisations across the UK. Culina’s Stafford depot will also provide First Milk with a sophisticated warehouse management system that will efficiently process orders and manage their stock movements.

Dave Lowe, Business Development Manager at Culina Logistics, said: “This new contract reflects our high quality service that offers flexibility, efficiency and value to all our customers. This customer focus, coupled with our ability to offer all solutions under one banner, is an important driving force in our strategy to grow the business in both the chilled and ambient markets.”

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Culina Logistics — the leading provider of logistics services for food and drink companies in the UK and Ireland, has secured a contract with one of the UK’s largest dairy businesses.

Milk Link, which is entirely owned by British dairy farmers and produces a wide range of dairy products, has awarded Culina Logistics a contract to provide UK-wide distribution and warehousing for its chilled cheese, butter and milk-finished goods.

On the appointment of Culina Logistics, Mark Robertson, Milk Link Operations Director, said: “As a farmer owned co-operative our primary objective is to deliver sustainable returns to our farmer Members and this is particularly vital at a time of considerable pressure and volatility both in the dairy sector and economy in general. The consistent delivery of first class service levels to our customers, through a fully integrated and cost efficient supply chain, is vital to that objective. Working with Culina Logistics will simplify our logistics arrangements, provide a flexible platform for future growth, deliver greater efficiencies, business profitability and ultimately allow us to maximise the returns we can offer to our Members.”

Culina Logistics will collect over 400 finished product lines from Milk Link’s cheese and butter operations at their Oswestry cheese packing facility, Lockerbie Creamery, Tuxford & Tebbutt Creamery, Reece’s Creamery, Llandyrnog Creamery and Crediton Dairy. The goods will then be warehoused at Culina’s depots in Bristol and Stafford with picked orders subsequently being delivered to major food retailers, food processors and food service organisations across the UK. These depots will also provide Milk Link with a sophisticated warehouse management system that will efficiently process orders and manage their stock movements.


Thomas van Mourik, Chief Executive of Culina Logistics, said: “This contract further reinforces our market leading credentials in the chilled food sector as well as our capability to transform supply chain performance for the benefit of the business. It also reflects our overriding commitment to customer service — from getting the products to market on time to handling them with utmost care so they arrive at the retail outlets in first class condition.”


Note to editors:

The Culina Group is focused on establishing a one-stop supply chain solution that can meet existing and future challenges faced by food, drink and grocery manufacturers and the changing demands of the retail sector. This is achieved through Culina Group companies Culina Logistics Limited, Culina IPS Contract Packing Limited and Culina SHS Ireland Limited.

Culina Logistics Limited provides high-quality multi-temperature storage and distribution services for leading food and drink manufacturers in the UK. The company has a forecast turnover in excess of £200m, employs around 2,300 people, operates a combined fleet of more than 1,000 trucks and trailers. The fleet covers more than 32 million miles annually, serving more than 90 premium brand customers and delivering 10,000-plus pallets every day.

Culina IPS Contract Packing Limited is a Culina Group joint venture with IPS LLP that specialises in contract-packing and re-working services, using the latest technology and processes to deliver a unique customised solution.

Culina SHS Ireland Limited is a Culina Group joint venture with the SHS Group Limited, which provides a wide range of food, drink and grocery manufacturers with a supply chain distribution service covering the whole of Ireland from a new facility in Dublin.


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Culina Logistics has appointed JBP PR as their new public relations consultancy.

JBP’s remit is to bring a new creative edge to the PR programme in order to differentiate Culina in its marketplace. JBP, which has offices in Bristol, Cardiff and London, has a strong track record in the logistics industry and currently works with Palletways and London City Bond.

Says Steve Winwood, Culina’s Commercial Director: “JBP’s understanding of the logistics industry, together with their creative approach, made them the natural PR partner for Culina as we aim to raise our profile amongst new business prospects in the chilled and ambient food and drinks sectors.”

Added Chris Lawrance, a director at JBP: “We’re looking forward to establishing Culina as the brand of choice in the food and drinks sector when it comes to supply chain management. We believe there is enormous potential for creative PR approaches in the logistics industry. With this in mind we are looking to bring a new dimension to Culina’s internal and external communications activities, which supports their brand values and helps them stand out amongst the competition.”

JBP, founded in 1984, is an award-winning strategic PR consultancy providing a range of services including: media relations, public affairs, financial communications and stakeholder engagement programmes to regional, national and international organisations.

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