CHEP Asia-Pacific has urged its food supply chain partners to think about sustainable distribution right across the supply chain to secure the future of an increasingly fragile food supply ecosystem.
Speaking at the Sustainable Supply Chain Forum in Sydney, the President of CHEP Asia-Pacific, Howard Wigham, said all parties would benefit if they minimised operational risks – both physical and environmental – while identifying new opportunities from the changing landscape.
“CHEP recognises that there is an opportunity to help food producers respond to climate change and increasing input costs,” Wigham says.
“While our expertise isn’t in food production, we can share our experience in food distribution.”
“In an environment of constrained supply, reducing waste, shrinkage and spoilage throughout the supply chain becomes critical,” he says.
Howard Wigham says CHEP’s expertise in managing reusable, returnable supply chain packaging solutions could play an important role in helping the food industry to respond to sustainability challenges.
Best Results Australia organised the forum. Participants, including some of Australia’s largest food retailers, processors, wholesalers, growers, seed companies, banks and financiers, were told the only way to achieve sustainable agricultural supply throughout Australia’s farming community was through industry collaboration and wide scale change to existing supply chain practice.
The Chairman of Best Results, Patrick Byrne, says CHEP could play an important role in reducing waste and input costs.
Wigham says CHEP was seeking opportunities to work more closely with the food industry to ensure knowledge is shared more effectively.
“CHEP is in a unique position to observe the movement of fresh and processed goods through the supply chain — and we operate in 44 countries around the world,” Wigham says.
“We want to build collaborative bridges with our supply chain partners, working with our customers and the industry to remove waste – compressing time, cost and space through lean thinking, reducing environmental footprints through green thinking and reducing physical harm by thinking safe.”
“We have listened to our customers and many feel they would benefit from advice on lean consulting. We’re developing a new service in this area and would like to hear from organisations who’d like to participate in a pilot program,” Mr Wigham says.
For more information: Cate Binet Manager, Brand and Communications CHEP Asia-Pacific T: + 61 2 9856 2450
CHEP offers managed returnable and reusable packaging solutions to companies across the globe. Since 1956, our technology and know-how has helped some of the world’s best known brands including Procter & Gamble, SYSCO, Kellogg’s, Kraft, Nestle, Ford and GM get to market.
Our supply chain solutions help customers store, protect and move goods from production to point of consumption in a safe, cost efficient and environmentally sound way.
Whether moving raw materials, meat, fresh food, bulk liquids, car parts, or consumer goods, we apply the technology and thinking to make goods movement leaner, greener and safer.
Our solutions lower customers’ supply chain and bottom line costs and reduce operational risks. Using CHEP, customers can better focus their valuable resources on their core business.
With a pool of over 280 million pallets and containers worldwide, CHEP has more than 7,700 employees and operates in 44 countries.
For more information about CHEP, please visit: www.chep.com.