Spirit Pub Company has awarded global logistics provider, Kuehne + Nagel, a long-term contract to handle the food service supply chain for its estate of more than 800 managed pubs across the United Kingdom.
Spirit owns and operates some of the UK's fastest growing pub brands, such as Chef & Brewer, Fayre & Square, Taylor Walker and Flaming Grill. Since the company's launch eight months ago, together with its commitment to providing exceptional guest experiences, Spirit required a logistics partner with proven experience in the sector and a deep understanding of the specific needs of pub operators.
Under the new agreement, Kuehne + Nagel has implemented a solution that will provide a platform for sustainable growth, improved communication and further collaboration between suppliers. A key enabler is a new IT system, which will provide visibility of menu sales and stocks to suppliers upstream, allowing for more accurate planning and forecasting.
Kuehne + Nagel will manage two regional distribution centres (RDC's) at Trafford Park, Manchester and Greenford, Greater London, on behalf of Spirit. Offering a combined total warehousing space of over 18,000m2, these RDC's will handle 1200 fresh, frozen and ambient product lines, with stocked lines being picked and merged with just-in-time lines for onward delivery to the pubs. The operation will run six days per week, typically making three deliveries each week to each pub via a national trunking and radial distribution fleet of 60 vehicles. Spirit's Head of Logistics, Vance Fairman-Smith, said: "At the heart of the decision to appoint Kuehne + Nagel was the need to support our pubs with a robust supply chain operation that would ultimately make it easier for pub employees to deliver great service to guests." The Food Service sector is a strategic growth area for Kuehne + Nagel.
The logistics provider has invested in developing solutions which offer significant advantages over the more traditional wholesale routes to market. These advantages include increased control and visibility of costs, improved service levels, and the inclusion of recycling and reverse logistics. In the United Kingdom, Kuehne + Nagel now runs three multi-temperature distribution centres, and carries out 105 food service deliveries per hour on a 24/7 basis. John Hartley, Kuehne + Nagel's Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing for North-West Europe said, "With an increasing trend towards eating out, the third-party logistics model has become attractive to multiple restaurant operators. Not only does it support their growth, it also offers greater reliability and product availability, and therefore an improved guest experience. Kuehne + Nagel is now positioned as the market leading third-party logistics provider for food service in the United Kingdom, and we are looking forward to embarking on our new long-term partnership with Spirit Pub Company."
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