Until 2013, Agroponiente used white pallets when exporting. But it needed a more efficient solution that ensured a reliable supply of consistently high quality pallets to overcome peaks and troughs in its growth cycles.
The Business
Agroponiente is one of Spain’s leading fruit and vegetable producers. Based in the south-east of the country, it has 25 years’ experience exporting Spanish produce across Europe.
The Challenge
Until 2013, Agroponiente used white pallets when exporting to much of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It needed a more efficient solution: higher quality equipment and a more regular supply of pallets to overcome peaks in growth cycles.
The Answer
CHEP’s managed pooling service encompassed seven new CEE countries in 2012. Agroponiente can now rent and share high-quality pallets across the whole of Europe, cutting costs and improving performance throughout its supply chain.
Managed pooling: a truly pan-European solution
Agroponiente has been working with CHEP for more than 20 years, mainly in Western and Central Europe. As a result, it saw increased efficiency, performance and business growth in these territories. So when CHEP expanded its pooling service to seven new countries – the Balkan states of Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia, and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – Agroponiente took full advantage.
“The distribution chains of our customers in Central Europe are accustomed to pallet pooling and prefer this type of system over other alternatives,” said Antonio Escobar, Managing Director of Agroponiente.
Moving away from white wood brings major benefits
White pallets vary in quality and are prone to failure, resulting in product damage, rejected deliveries and even safety hazards. It costs extra time and money to put things right – especially where cross-border trade is concerned. In CEE countries, white pallets are still used extensively. “Our expansion was a direct response to requests from many CHEP customers who have had to deal with the inefficiencies and high costs of the white exchange pallet system,” says Jochen Behr, CHEP’s
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