The journey of a jar of Heinz baby food, from factory to shop floor, is a logistical labyrinth.
For Kraft Heinz, who produce several ranges of baby and toddler food under the Heinz brand, the starting point is Italy where ingredients are picked, packed and delivered to the company’s baby food facilities in Latina, southern Italy. Jars are vacuum-packed before cooking to ensure product quality and safety after which they are transported by road to the Port of Salerno.
Kraft Heinz utilises sea ports throughout the North, including Hull and Tees Port, and, in the case of baby food jars, the cargo arrives in to Liverpool. From here it is transported to the Kraft Heinz National Distribution Centre in Wigan. Operated by Wincanton, the 29-acre site features a high-bay storage area with 11 automated cranes next to a low-bay reception and dispatch area.
Over 300 Wincanton employees are based on site, including around 100 drivers, together with 27 Kraft Heinz employees involved with stock control and logistics. Together, they make up some of the four million people employed in the UK food supply chain which generates over ÂŁ121 billion of added value for the economy each year.
Once orders have been packed, they are taken to one of 20 dispatch lanes where they are loaded on to vehicles. On average, around 100 vehicle loads are dispatched from the warehouse each day, but once you include products sent directly from the nearby Kraft Heinz factory at Kitt Green, it is not unknown for 180 trucks to be sent out in a single day.
Once on the road, Wincanton’s strategic network is utilised to scale operations up and down to meet seasonal fluctuations in demand. Maximising assets, including shared transport and warehousing initiatives, also delivers significant environmental benefits, which is particularly important for companies committed to sustainability.
Each major UK supermarket has regional warehouses which house everything under one roof, and from these the stores are supplied directly. Integrated stock management systems establish what needs to be moved where, and when.
Each day, hundreds of trucks pick up goods, including jars of baby food, from these warehouses before delivering them to supermarkets up and down the country. Every item is traceable, so the supermarket knows exactly where each product is at any given time.
Food and drink exports were worth ÂŁ22 billion to the UK economy in 2017, ÂŁ1.9 billion more than the previous peak of ÂŁ20.1 billion in 2016. While most products from the Kraft Heinz National Distribution Centre stay within the UK and Ireland, around 10 to 15 loads a day are exported to countries as far away as Australia.
The Kraft Heinz story perfectly illustrates the success of the UK in the global marketplace and how the North plays a vital part in the national and international supply chain. The success of the Government’s Northern Powerhouse Strategy and Industrial Strategy depends on transforming the North’s economy but there is still a long way to go to address decades of under investment, so its full potential can be achieved.
Unlocking additional export growth will help to deliver on this ambition, with future growth markets in China, the US and nearby European countries all identified as potential facilitators. Improving links to the North’s ports and airports is also vital if we want to encourage trade and inward investment and ultimately make the North a more attractive place for businesses to invest and base themselves.
Our Strategic Transport Plan sets out the case for the role of investment in transport, and how it can act as a positive, sustainable catalyst for growth in the North. We want to work with local authorities and the private sector to improve journey times and the reliability of deliveries which, in turn will make the movement of goods more efficient.
Identifying opportunities for moving freight on to the rail network and increasing the number of rail corridors capable of accommodating container trains, including the largest intermodal, deep-sea shipping containers, is another priority. In this way, the North’s networks of railways and major roads will be equipped to provide effective, resilient and reliable connections for businesses both old and new.