From Vietnam to Europe – how we’re helping to make a fish’s journey smoother
July 15, 2010
A new, fast growing, sustainable alternative to tuna and swordfish now has a simpler journey from Vietnam to Europe’s high end retailers and food service outlets, thanks to our innovative partnership with Edge Worldwide Logistics.
This is because Sea Products of Scotland has become the first customer to use our new global, fully integrated, end-to-end logistics service for frozen food products. Working closely with Sea Products, the ACS&T and EWL teams have succeeded in creating a brand new distribution platform for the business’s newest import – Cobia.
Cobia is a large, saltwater fish which can grow up to 2 metres in length, and is perfect for any recipe which requires white fish. It is also ideal for sushi, thanks to its firm white flesh, high Omega 3 oil content and excellent flavour. Sea Products now hope to bring the fish to UK and European markets for the first time, as an excellent, alternative to popular species for environmentally conscious fish-lovers. Thanks to the expertly managed farming methods of Sea Products’ sister company, Marine Farms Vietnam, Cobia is also a sustainable choice.
Here’s how the new end-to-end collection, storage and distribution service works...
EWL collect the containers of frozen cobia from Vietnam and ship them to the UK. They then bring them, by road, to the ACS&T coldstore and distribution centre in Wolverhampton. We then take over, handling storage, packing and palletisation, and onward distribution to Sea Products’ customers across the UK and Europe. And of course, from the moment the stock enters our cold store it can be monitored and traced using our industry leading real-time warehouse management system.
The tailor-made, seamless service we’ve developed for Sea Products of Scotland means that they no longer have to manage a complex and costly logistics process, involving several different logistics, storage and distribution partners. Instead they can focus on the essential task of finding new markets for their high quality fish. Other benefits include substantial cost savings, increased visibility, enhanced information flow and greatly improved operational efficiencies.
Mark Warrington, Managing Director of Sea Products of Scotland said:
“I had worked with EWL before and was impressed with the level of service they deliver, so they were the obvious choice for our new farmed product from Vietnam. There was however a need to take this to the next stage and find a similarly professional company to take care of our central storage and distribution. We really needed a reliable and dependable service as this is a new product, and we could not be let down by poor distribution and warehousing.
“ACS&T have delivered a fantastic service and been invaluable in advising us in establishing a storage and transport network to our extensive customer base. The new global logistics partnership of EWL and ACS&T has made our entire supply chain more efficient, streamlined and manageable. By significantly reducing our admin, it is allowing us to concentrate our efforts in marketing the product and developing new markets for the product overseas, in the knowledge that our distribution is in safe hands.
“ACS&T’s warehouse management system, which allows me to see our stock levels and manage orders from ACS&T’s stores in real-time, is also a huge bonus.”
Our unique, end-to-end new service is available to any company that sources its frozen food products globally. Customers can expect to unlock savings at every step of the supply chain, through reduced shipping rates, administration costs and efficiency in storage and delivery.
To find out more about how this service could save you money, reduce your administration, optimise your logistics programme and improve your business performance, contact Carl Robinson on 01472 358207 or email Carl.Robinson@acst.co.uk
To find out more about Cobia, visit Sea Products of Scotland’s website at
www.thelakelandgroup.co.uk