stack-nest containers supermarket

Supermarket Chain Experiences the Benefits of Dedicated Stack-Nest Containers for Food Products

Posted on

Food distribution is one of the key activities in any place of the world, and it is the specific industry where packaging companies have a wide offer of stack-nest containers, hygienic pallets and crates and other similar products.

Traditionally, food products were packed in several layers of one-way packaging materials, in the attempt of protecting them from damage and from contact with dust and other contaminants. This is exactly what our client, a regional warehouse for distribution to a chain of supermarkets, was doing. They had a significant portion of their logistic budget blocked for the continuous purchase of cardboard paper, shrinking film, cardboard separators and various straps for securing the load on pallet.

A Losing Battle Against Mounting Packaging Wastes

The struggles at the warehouse were just one end of the problem. The other end was at each separate supermarket which had to deal with an increasing quantity of wastes on a daily basis. All the cardboard boxes and separators had to be collected and sent to a recycling facility, adding up more costs for the supermarket chain.

The problem with the unreliable and costly packaging materials had become acute, especially because the regional warehouses supplied the supermarket with the entire range of food products: fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy products, canned and processed food. For each category of product, the company had to invest in a separate batch of packaging materials. Added up, all these packages were costing the supermarket chain a lot of money, especially because most of them were for a single use.

Logistic Experts Give Their Opinion

The main problem at the management level of the supermarket chain was that they were stuck in a long term relationship with a packaging supplier. This supplier continued to market old-fashioned and unreliable packaging materials, instead of understanding their clients’ needs and developing a range of professional materials, such as plastic stack-nest containers, crates for fruit and vegetables, plastic pallets and so on.

Leaving aside the long period of working with that packaging company, the logistic manager of the supermarket chain had no other strong argument in favor of their traditional supplier. The packaging materials they were using for years met very few of our client’s requirements:

  • Hygiene
  • Space-saving
  • Good return on investment
  • Reliable for warehousing and shipment
  • Great design to be used for shelf display purposes.

An Innovative and Reliable Proposal: Stack-Nest Containers and See-Through Crates

After listening to the client’s requirement, our packaging experts were ready with the solution in no time. They proposed three ranges of products to be adopted by the client instead of their one-way packaging:

1. Euro Stack-Nest Containers for Food Industry

Made of virgin polypropylene, easy to wash and sanitize, with a long life span, these Euro stack-nest containers are adequate for any kind of food product: meat, dairy, or processed food. They are available with various design elements, such as perforated walls, cut out handles on the long or short sides and have a standard footprint, allowing them to be easily packed on an EURO pallet.

2. Bale-Arm Containers

The special design of these crates, with many perforations, and with bale arms allowing stacking without damaging the products inside recommends the bale-arm containers for storing fresh fruit and vegetables. When not in use, these containers are fully nestable, reducing the volume of the stack by 70%.

3. See-Through Crates

The special design, using transparent material, recommends this crate for store display. This is a specific range of packaging materials for marketing purposes, which allow the customer to focus on the product itself and on the company brand.

The implementation of the three ranges of products proposed by our logistic specialists allowed the supermarket chain to reduce its logistic costs, increase their sales by using more attractive display crates for their products and to obtain a good return on investment for their stock of stack-nest containers for the food industry.