FDBusiness.com

UK’s leading xylitol brand chooses food and drink specialist for national distribution contract

Total Sweet, the 100% natural sugar alternative, has awarded a national distribution contract to food and drink supply chain specialist Culina. The contract, which started in September 2012, will manage distribution of Total Sweet products to Waitrose, Sainsbury, Holland & Barrett, pharmacies and specialist health food retailers across the UK.

“We wanted to work with a company that could offer flexibility and attention to detail, and Culina listened to us and what we needed,” says Daniel Reeds, Managing Director at Total Sweet. “For example, they were able to offer us greater flexibility in case picking costs than our previous service provider so that there was no flat rate fee.”

Made from naturally occurring xylitol found in birch wood, Total Sweet looks and tastes just like sugar but has various healthy benefits. It has 45% fewer calories than sugar, 75% less available carbohydrates, a glycaemic index value of just seven, which is good for dieters and diabetics*, and actively promotes healthy teeth. It is available in resealable stand-up 225g and 1kg pouches.

Total Sweet selected Culina on the recommendation of another company after assessing the market. Palletised product received from Total Sweet will be distributed to retailers through the Culina warehouse in Leighton Buzzard using a shared user model across the supply chain specialist’s network of ten sites. This ensures efficient and timely delivery with the minimum number of vehicle movements and shorter lead times. The shared user model is extremely useful for specialist producers such as Total Sweet because it provides access to national distribution networks and extremely high service levels without any restrictions on the volumes being shipped while supporting flexibility, adaptability and scalability to meet ever changing requirements.

“From the start Culina was able to pick up on details that have already made the service more efficient,” says Daniel Reeds. “For example, they spotted a product coding error which had been missed by the previous service provider and this was then put right. This is the sort of attention to detail we hugely value in our company.”

In this type of operation storage and distribution infrastructure and services are shared between users throughout the Culina network. Any Culina vehicle on the road will be carrying products for multiple customers while individual pallets might also contain products from different suppliers but with a common, shared destination. In this way Culina optimises not only the resources utilised in every depot across its network but ensures each vehicle is filled as fully as possible for effective, economical and sustainable transportation. Supply chain efficiencies and economies of scale allow Culina to provide efficient and cost effective solutions to customers of all sizes which can be scaled up and down to meet seasonal peaks and the demands of promotions.