Tring, Hertfordshire, UK: Noble Foods, a fresh egg supplier, has enlisted a new fleet of temperature-controlled trailers as it steps up its campaign in support of the nation’s armed forces.
The Gray & Adams trailers wear a striking livery that promotes Noble Foods’ Eggs For Soldiers brand, a high-profile supporter of the army charity Help for Heroes – it donates 15p for each box of eggs sold.
All 13.6m single-deckers with Thermo King SLX-200 refrigeration units, the Eggs For Soldiers trailers are fitted with a full complement of Gray & Adams Eco-Aer modifications designed to reduce aerodynamic drag and thereby improve fuel economy. These include:
- Wide-radiused top cappings which smooth air flow over the top of the trailer;
- A vortex generator incorporated into the roof at the rear, which delays air flow separation behind the trailer, and
- Tapered side skirts which smooth air flow around the trailer.
Controlled tests carried out at MIRA (the Motor Industry Research Association) confirm that a Gray & Adams Eco-Aer trailer can reduce fuel consumption by as much as 10%, compared to a standard reefer.
Each week, Noble Foods individually grades, packs and delivers over 72 million eggs which it sources either from its own farms, or from independent producers, many of them family-owned farming businesses.
In recent months Gray & Adams has also supplied semi-trailers – including several twin-deck versions with moving floors – for other Noble Foods brands, including the Happy Egg Co, a free range brand.
Mick Tucker, transport vontroller, Noble Foods, says: “As well as being committed to the highest welfare standards for our birds, and to a sustainable approach to farming, we are very conscious of our responsibilities to the wider community.
“That’s why we’ve specified our new Gray & Adams trailers with Eco-Aer kits. Together with the fleet of dual-fuel DAF XF tractor units in which we’ve invested over the last 12 months, they are now helping us significantly to cut fuel consumption and thereby reduce our carbon footprint.”
Noble Foods is a long-standing Gray & Adams customer. “We get an eight-year life from a Gray & Adams trailer, and will re-livery it at the half-way stage. Other trailers, by contrast, can look very worn after four or five years, which is also when you start to get reliability issues.”
In addition to eggs, Noble Foods’ brands include GU Chocolate Puds and Didier’s Patisserie, a top-end business with a number of exclusive retail and foodservice customers.
The company also works closely with customers to create added value propositions under their retailer brands. For example, the Sainsburys Woodland Egg brand pledges that the outdoor range on each Woodland farm must have a minimum of 20% tree cover – 1p per pack sold is donated to the Woodland Trust and goes towards planting new trees in the UK.
