French pizza and sandwich manufacturer Sodebo has halved the number of logistics providers it uses to just one. The company started a UK operation in 2001, with product supplied directly from France, and until now has used two logistics providers to handle the transport for multi-depot deliveries.
Sodebo, which produces more than 100 million pizzas, 30 million sandwiches and 15 million toasted sandwiches a year, has now selected Culina to handle the work from its Milton Keynes distribution centre to improve shared-user distribution and benefit from consolidating products to a single site. Alain Mounis, logistics manager at Sodebo, explains: “Culina provides a range of benefits, from cost efficiencies of a single provider to access to real-time management information, as well as a high level of reactivity to our questions or requests.”
Up to 5,000 are currently despatched a week to regional distribution centres (RDCs) supplying retailers such as Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Iceland and Londis but the number is expected to increase significantly as the business expands. Orders are received by electronic data interchange (EDI) and Culina provides intake, storage, picking and distribution services.
Sodebo also benefits from other added value services including access to secure information via a dedicated website, POD scanning and a 24-hour customer care centre.
