Damco has announced that it has been awarded a major contract from US-based group Sun America Imports to provide end-to-end management of the group's supply chain from Latin America to North America.
The contract with Sun America, a leading import wholesaler of fresh produce and perishables from Latin America, builds on an existing collaboration between the companies and represents an estimated yearly volume in excess of 10,000 FFE with 'strong opportunity' for expansion into new markets for Sun America, including Europe.
Under the terms of the deal, Damco will provide Sun America Imports with advanced end-to-end supply chain management handling all landside services, ocean transportation, cargo insurance and offering complete visibility throughout the supply chain.
'We look forward to expanding our relationship and optimising our sourcing and supply chain in close cooperation with Damco,' said Drew Kislin, managing director of Sun America Imports. 'Our goal is to increase profitability by reducing intermediary dependency and bring down our overall logistics and transportation costs.
'Our goal is also to use Damco’s strong presence and network across all of the key perishable markets to jointly grow the business, and our businesses to include more product groups and eventually begin exporting fresh produce to new markets in Europe,' he added.
'To Damco, the Sun America win represents an important milestone,' noted Ole Schack Petersen, global head of reefer logistics at Damco. 'Not only due to the sheer size of the deal, but also due to the fact that it re-emphasises the overall industry change of direct sourcing and illustrates how Damco’s unique value proposition within reefer allows wholesalers based in North America and Europe to be an active part of this important industry trend.
'Efficiency, lower overall logistics costs, shorter time to market and thus a longer produce shelf-life are some of the key benefits we expect to create for Sun America Imports,' he said.'
