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Craft food trend requires suitable logistics concepts

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the demand for craft food has increased significantly. Throughout Europe, more and more consumers are attaching importance to sustainably produced food, produced in small manufactories and not by large industrial companies. A trend that requires dedicated logistics experts.

The demand for sustainably produced food is increasing significantly. For example, 82 percent of all Germans already make sure when buying food that the product comes from the region. This is the result of the representative survey "Nutrition in the Corona Crisis" conducted by forsa on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) among 1000 citizens. Small businesses with craft competence and food start-ups wanting to position themselves in the market with craft food and wanting to preserve the tradition of the food craft increasingly profit from this development.

"Regionality and sustainability are gaining importance."

Consumers focus on sustainability and, in small quantities, food produced according to traditional methods. "Sustainable" has become the buzzword for healthy, environmentally friendly food. "The world is changing. It is a genetic phenomenon that in times of upheaval, people look for new sources of food," explains futurologist Max Thinius. For years he has been conducting research on the subject of food, advising various regions in Germany on the digitization of everyday life, the working and nutritional world of the population and is a frequent guest on the German government's scientific advisory council.

"Regionality and sustainability of food, but also the health of the individual, are becoming increasingly important. In the future we will have food of the best quality and new technologies to evaluate and use this quality in relation to our health". According to Thinius, new production methods such as intercropping, in which different plants are cultivated that complement each other in terms of growth and soil use, and selective care carried out by care and harvesting robots will make up to 90 percent of pesticides redundant in the future, he says.

"Soon, Craft Food will no longer be confined to the small regional grower. Together with intelligent working environments and modern technologies, large new food structures are in the process of being created here.” But the new food culture’s pioneers are currently still the small, innovative farms.

Small quantities safely transported – all across Europe

This rapidly growing craft food movement requires logistics concepts that meet the requirements. "Food manufacturers place different demands on logistics providers than industrial companies do", says Marc Hackländer, Head of European Network & Partner Development at DACHSER. The products are only manufactured in small quantities for narrow, like-minded target groups, not for an anonymous mass market where availability and price are the focus. As a result, the major European retail chains and discounters are often excluded as recipients. Nevertheless, these manufacturers, which up to now have often been regionally oriented, are looking for new sales channels and are attracting interest from customers in neighboring European countries.

The European Food Network specializes in the Europe-wide transport of food, even in small quantities. The member companies of the alliance are ideally positioned for this type of job. The food logistics companies are regional specialists who have grown over many years from family structures to national players, but have always remained close to their customers. Marc Hackländer: "The vehicles must be able to cope with the conditions at the pick-up and delivery location, often there are no ramps. Communication and customer processes take place on other levels - this is where listening and consulting are required, flexibility, solution orientation, thinking along with the customer. This is time-consuming, but it is worth it and it is a pleasure to be able to grow with the companies".

Golden Week 2023 in China

During September 29 and October 06, most business and factories in China will be closed. The week-long holiday in one of the world’s most important economies poses an impact to the international supply chain. Start to prepare now to minimize the possible disruptions.

What is Golden Week?

Golden Week is a 7-day or 8-day national holiday in China. Every year the Chinese celebrate the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on October 01. This year, Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 29 and will combine with National Day Golden Week for a long, 8-day holiday from September 29 to October 06. Traditionally, Chinese people used to take the opportunity to travel for leisure and visit their families in other parts of China.
DACHSER in China, like many other businesses, will be closed during the Golden Week and resume normal operations on October 7.

What will happen during Golden Week?

Most businesses and factories will be closed during the week-long holiday, meaning that production will be at halt. Airports and seaports will keep operating but with reduced manpower due to low production volume from factories. Normally government institutions such as customs offices will be closed from October 01 – 03.
Since China, one of the world’s biggest economies and production countries, will come to a standstill for a whole week and factories may not run at full capacity as soon as the official holiday ends, the plunge of production volume would have an impact to the worldwide supply chain.

How to minimize the impact of Golden Week?

While we try our best to minimize any possible interruptions to your supply chain, you can also help us by considering the following:

Communicate with your suppliers and customers to make arrangements for sufficient stock and manage expectations

Discuss your planning with us and prepare an accurate shipment forecast for long-term planning, so we can offer you the most suitable solution that fits your budget and schedule

Place your booking earlier and pay attention to the cut-off dates.

For sea freight, it is recommended to book 4-6 weeks before the start of holiday

For air freight, it is recommended to book 1-2 weeks before the start of holiday

If you have any questions, please get in touch with your usual local DACHSER contact who will be happy to assist and plan the next steps with you together.

Step by step toward the goal — Sea freight groupage containers facilitate the continuous flow of goods

In turbulent economic times, sea freight groupage containers are becoming increasingly popular. Production bottlenecks, fragile global supply chains, and a container shortage have further increased the demand for small and predictable shipment sizes in sea freight. Michael Kriegel, Department Head DACHSER Chem Logistics, explains the service that enables a reliable flow of goods in sea freight. He also talks about why a good network connection is crucial, especially for goods with high security requirements.

Companies are already analyzing their global supply chains and increasingly shifting their shipments to sea freight groupage (called “less than container load,” or LCL for short). The big advantage of groupage for customers is that they can ship smaller loads without having to pay for a full container. As a result, they can maintain a continuous flow of goods, even in the event of production bottlenecks, and also respond more flexibly to seasonal fluctuations. LCL containers are often prioritized over full containers in the loading process, which provides an additional time advantage and allows for better planning of transportation times. DACHSER markets what it calls “consolidation boxes” - customers pay only for the space they actually occupy in the containers. In addition, the company plans departures weeks in advance rather than only once production volumes are known. This means that containers, which are still in short supply, can be pre-booked in good time and customers retain flexibility when booking. 

Many companies, especially in the automotive, life science, and healthcare industries, have been using groupage shipments by sea for years. But this service is also suitable for the chemical industry, which places particularly high demands on safety and transparency during transport - and thus needs a logistics provider with the appropriate experience. DACHSER is one such provider. It set up a purchasing partnership with the German Chemical Industry Association (Verband der Chemischen Industrie e.V., or VCI) in 2009. This successful alliance for European groupage shipments from Germany was then expanded in 2015 to include air and sea freight. Member companies of the association now benefit from globally standardized core services in the groupage network - transport, warehousing, and IT solutions. All this specialist industry experience has been pooled in the DACHSER Chem Logistics team. 

“In shipments from customers in the chemical industry, which sometimes contain dangerous goods, the decisive factor is always safety. We have to protect life, limb, and the environment,” says Claus Freydag, Managing Director DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics Germany. “DACHSER also boasts global dangerous goods expertise in the groupage container segment and covers all LCL-compatible IMO classes in its own network and in its partner network,” he adds. The company’s central dangerous goods management system and its more than 250 regional safety advisors monitor compliance with special regulations governing the transport of dangerous goods. In addition, many DACHSER employees are trained annually in the particular requirements of chemical logistics.

For sea freight groupage, the sea freight team consolidates various LCLs and loads them into a full container. This optimizes utilization of container capacity, which in turn provides the basis for economical transport costs. Maximum utilization also improves transport sustainability while reducing the risk for individual companies at a time when supply chains are fragile. “Ports around the world have been clogged for months, causing significant delays - and making it rare, if not impossible, for shipping companies to stay on schedule. Instead of sending a full container on its way, which can get held up if loading windows are missed, more and more customers are opting for sea freight groupage containers. This reduces their risk by spreading it over several departures and ships and ensures a more timely transport,” Freydag explains.

Intelligent logistics solutions and a strong network are crucial

Demand for LCL services will continue to grow, even apart from the impact of the pandemic. That’s why DACHSER, as a market leader in the German and European groupage market, has also expanded its maritime LCL network to include 70 weekly direct services to and from Germany. “With a focus on the main global routes, we are systematically expanding our dangerous goods capacity as well. This of course means serving the major markets in both the eastern and western hemispheres, such as China, India, and the US,” Freydag says. In 2021, DACHSER shipped around 19,700 cbm of dangerous goods as LCL with customers in the chemical industry. Dangerous goods thus already represent 15 percent of DACHSER ASL Germany’s LCL business. In addition to the usual port-to-port services, DACHSER also operates various direct import services to the hinterland or other European cities. For example, once a week LCL groupage containers travel directly from port locations such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Ningbo to ports such as Hamburg and Bremen - but also with direct loading to Frankfurt, Kaufbeuren, Cologne, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart as well as Copenhagen and Gothenburg. Direct loading minimizes the risk of cargo damage and provides additional safety by eliminating deconsolidation at the transit terminal.

Furthermore, this increases profitability and achieves additional lead time advantages by rectifying bottlenecks in the port. “DACHSER’s global network connects all groupage transports on land and water. We link our own sea freight groupage container services to and from Germany to the comprehensive range of services offered by DACHSER European Logistics, thus enabling end-to-end service throughout Europe,” Freydag says. For storage and unloading, DACHSER is increasingly using its own branch infrastructure in addition to the standard container freight stations (CFS) at the ports. When port capacity is limited, companies thus benefit from additional dispatch quality and shorter transit times.

This concept, in keeping with the idea of “everything from a single source” links the European overland transport network with the global sea freight network - a feature that not every company can offer. “Thanks to the end-to-end solution of our LCL product, which goes beyond just sea transport, we can maintain high quality across the aforementioned carriers and offer transparent traceability of the goods,” Freydag adds.

The past two years have seen risk minimization in the global movement of goods become a crucial factor for success. To take full advantage of LCL shipping, it is crucial that pick-up and onward carriage are also handled in an integrated manner, thus ensuring expertise in the safe transport of dangerous goods along the entire transport route.