Johnstown, Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland: Irish grocery retail group ADM Londis has launched a centralised chilled distribution system with a €20m partnership agreement with Norbert Dentressangle.
The new distribution centre will supply the group’s 250 irish retailers. For the first time, retailers can place chilled orders directly with ADM Londis through its ISIS web platform. Products will be delivered in a single load, marking a major strategic shift for the group and its retailers.
Claude Tonna Barthet, group operations director, ADM Londis, says: “This first phase of the group’s centralised chill project incorporates over 780 product lines, replacing 40 individual supplier deliveries with one. The entire operation is reliant on a very fluid process from placement of orders by retailers, to suppliers delivering into our chilled warehouse in Swords, concluding with products being picked, dispatched and delivered to our retailers all within a three-day timeframe. Despite the complexity of the entire solution, we are delighted to have experienced a very smooth launch with excellent feedback from our retailers. ”
The ISIS and iPad technology provide the ordering platform which is critical to the success of its centralised distribution. Local and regional suppliers who previously were unable to branch out nationwide due to the barrier of high distribution costs now have access to a nationwide retail network via the Londis centralised chilled distribution facility, Londis says anticipating “significant interest amongst Irish food and drink companies.”
Suppliers already signed up include O’Brien Fine Foods based in Offaly which includes Brady Ham and Rudd Fine Foods brands; Nestbox, a supplier of commercial and free range eggs from Monaghan; William Carr Seafood from Killala, Co Mayo; Waldron Meats, a family-owned pork and bacon supplier from Brideswell, Roscommon; and Dublin craft bakery Tea Time Express.
