Gist has been awarded a two-year contract with In2food - formerly known as Spring Valley Foods - to manage the supply chain of its growing range of fresh fruit pots from the airport to retail stores in the UK and Europe.
South Africa-based In2food supplies prepared fruit mixes including mixes of mango, melon, passion fruit, pineapple, kiwi, apple, citrus, pineapple and grapes.
Gist is managing more than 25 different lines of fruit pots from their arrival in the UK from South Africa by air.
Despite the high levels of complexity involved, the team have worked to create what they hope is a time-efficient supply chain that delivers the fresh fruit products in the minimum of time, maximising the products’ shelf-life.
The fruit leaves South Africa to arrive ready for purchasing on retail shelves in the UK, Netherlands and France within 36 hours.
This process includes preparing customs documentation and customs clearance, picking up the product from the airlines and transporting it to Gist’s depot for processing, picking and delivering to retail stores.
Peter Black, general manager at In2food, said: “Chilled fruit products require quick and efficient turnaround times from the airlines to the retail shelf, something that Gist can provide for us as a simple and complete package.”
Martin Gwynn, chief executive at Gist, said: “Gist’s global supply chain capability has a specialist focus on time and temperature critical products, well suited to In2food’s global movements of fresh prepared fruits into the UK.”
