CHEP, the global leader in pallet and container pooling, has established a three-year contract with Cumbrian Seafoods, which will involve some 165,000 pallet movements a year. Cumbrian Seafoods, the UK's leading independent seafood supplier to the retail trade, has been using CHEP for 13 years, but this is the first time it has entered into such a long-term contract.
Both companies' commitment to sustainability played a key role in Cumbrian Seafoods' decision. Cumbrian Seafoods Planning & Logistics Manager John Needham said: "Our focus is on supplying customers with seafood from sustainable sources and we encourage our suppliers to follow a similar policy with their own products and services. CHEP uses timber from responsibly managed forests, while its pooling model encourages the repair and reuse of pallets and recycles damaged components rather than sending them to landfill."
Mr Needham said the professionalism of CHEP's account management and the fact that CHEP had a service centre very near Cumbrian Seafoods' Seaham site in the North East of England were other key reasons for awarding CHEP the contract.
CHEP's use of automated electronic data interchange (EDI) systems also benefits customers. EDI, which creates a seamless link between CHEP's management systems and those of the customer, delivers reduced administration time and associated cost improvements while ensuring an accurate real-time count of pallets as they leave customer facilities.
CHEP UK & Ireland Commercial Director Gill Sinclair said: "We have been working very closely with Cumbrian Seafoods during the past six months and I am delighted that we have been awarded this valuable three-year deal. Following CHEP's other recent contract wins and extensions in the UK food industry - such as with Birds Eye, Discovery Foods and Intersnack - this is further evidence of our expertise in this important sector."