Loscam delivers in NZ's North Island

Foodstuffs North Island, a 100% NZ-owned and operated cooperative, operates retail and wholesale brands across - you guessed it - New Zealand’s North Island.

The cooperative supplies 98 New World, 40 PAK’nSAVE and 205 Four Square owner-operated retail supermarkets, as well as 55 Liquorland, three Write Price and two Shoprite stores and wholesale foodservice brands Gilmours and Toops.

The membership is supported by an infrastructure and team of 2000 who work across seven distribution centres and two support centres across the North Island.

Foodstuffs has joined with Loscam to develop an initiative focused on delivering a best-in-class packaging solution for its fresh produce supply chain. Loscam is a provider of returnable package handling (RPH) solutions for use in Asia-Pacific supply chains.

The standardised packaging solution, provided by Loscam, includes its Active Lock produce crates and rising floor bins. These result in less handling of the produce through the supply chain and improved efficiency of in-store replenishment.

Loscam says the solution provides the opportunity to enhance the efficiency, safety and flexibility of the Foodstuffs produce supply chain by giving suppliers access to the latest standardised packaging technology.

The solution is one of many collaborative initiatives that Foodstuffs has become involved in to streamline supply chain activities and enable the cooperative to offer shoppers the freshest produce possible.

“Standardising packaging within our fresh supply chain has been a priority for us. We see opportunities to drive efficiency by reducing the amount of different packaging within the network,” said Vaughan Grant, general manager supply chain, Foodstuffs North Island.

“Ensuring we present the freshest produce in the fastest and safest manner possible to our customers is a factor that will position us to stay at the forefront in this sector.”

“We are excited about extending our relationship with Foodstuffs into the fresh produce sector and we are very much looking forward to investing in the innovative crate solution, simple administrative processes and crate wash facilities across the country to deliver a world-class returnable crate solution,” said David Edwards, Loscam’s corporate head of development.

“Our crates and bins will enhance the supply chain process and we see lots of opportunities to bring choice to the wider produce sector over the coming years.”