Leading cheese specialist chooses Culina Logistics for consumer brand contract

Dairy Partners Ltd a UK manufacturer of cheese ingredients and sales and marketing partner for EU produced consumer branded dairy products, has awarded a contract for the storage, picking and distribution of its retail product range to Culina Logistics, the market-leading provider of logistics services for food and drink companies. The contract became fully operational in June 2011 and is managed from the Culina Logistics depot in Stafford to utilise a shared user model across the company’s network of ten sites to optimise transport with minimum vehicle movements and delivery lead times.

“Following a highly successful trial period using Culina Logistics as our distributor we are delighted to have awarded our distribution contract to them,” says Robert Peel, Director at Dairy Partners. “We look forward to growing our business with Culina over the coming years.”

Dairy Partners is a leader in the UK cheese industry. It serves the foodservice, manufacturing, wholesale and retail sectors. In addition to being one of the largest suppliers of Grated Cheese in the UK the company also markets a range of retail dairy products including the popular Peelable Cheese brand.

The company awarded the contract to distribute its retail lines to Culina Logistics after reviewing its operations. One of the main reasons for the decision to switch suppliers was Culina Logistics’ ability to provide an economical, flexible and scaleable solution. Palletised products are delivered to Culina Logistics’ Stafford depot from Dairy Partners’ producers in Europe by third party transport. Culina Logistics utilises its established shared user model and network of ten depots throughout the UK and Ireland to manage storage, picking and distribution. This ensures the efficient and timely delivery of products to Dairy Partners customers including major high street multiple retailers and food service sector wholesalers.

“We’ve configured this operation to provide Dairy Partners with a solution that meets its current requirements but which can be scaled up easily as their retail business grows across the UK,” says Mark Baldwin, Account Manager at Culina Logistics.

Culina Logistics operates a highly efficient model where storage and distribution infrastructure and services are shared between users throughout its network. Any vehicle on the road will be carrying products for multiple customers while individual pallets might also contain products from different suppliers but with a common, shared destination. In this way Culina optimises not only the resources utilised in each depot and throughout the network but ensures each vehicle is filled as fully as possible for effective and economical transportation. Supply chain efficiencies and economies of scale allow the company to provide an efficient and cost effective solution to customers of all sizes which can be scaled up and down to meet seasonal peaks and the demands of promotions.