Culina builds £20M Suffolk depot as Continental supplies grow
More than 50% of chilled goods handled by Culina Logistics for onward distribution to UK customers are now coming from the Continent, bosses have revealed.
There have been claims that chilled food producers need to be geographically close to their customer base in order to deal with short lead times and volatile demand. However, more and more temperature-controlled goods destined for UK supermarkets were being transported from Continental Europe, said Culina md Rien Brakel.
The firm, which operates three shared user chilled depots in Market Drayton (Shropshire), Prime Point (Staffordshire) and Milton Keynes, is planning a fourth depot in Haverhill Business Park in Suffolk.
The new £20M depot, which will become fully operational next August, was “strategically located to meet organic growth from customers and target new business from the UK and Europe”, he said. “The location fits perfectly, as a large percentage of our clients’ manufacturing facilities are based on the Continent.”
The 17,740m2 site will feature 25 dock-level loading bays with space to accommodate 75 trucks and trailers.
It will also feature a state-of-the-art warehouse management system to constantly monitor and update stock levels to ensure maximum efficiency and maintain Culina’s 99.995% pick accuracy rate, claimed Brakel.
A subsidiary of German dairy giant Müller, Culina turned over £87M in 2006 and continued to generate double-digit growth as the demand for chilled food continued unabated, said Brakel. Formed in the UK in 1994, it has distribution centres at Market Drayton (Shropshire), Prime Point (Staffordshire) and Milton Keynes. Clients include Coca-Cola Enterprises, Danone, Innocent Drinks, Kerrygold, Kraft, Müller and Uniq.
