New DailyFresh managing director Erick De Vries is proposing his logistics facility at the French port of Dunkirk as a hub for UK importers.
“We handle Dutch vegetable and salad production, but we are also on the look-out for new sources in other European producing countries,” De Vries told FPJ. “We also plan to work with major British importers of overseas produce and for them to use our premises in Dunkirk as a hub for onward distribution from the rest of Europe.”
DailyFresh’s new facility has been up and running for three weeks and is due for official inauguration in September. “The facility meets all our expectations,” said De Vries. “ The 6,000m2 temperature-controlled warehouse has 21 loading bays and an additional capacity to extend to a maximum 18,000m2 if required. This is a major development for the Dutch logistics specialist but also for the French port that has been actively seeking to develop its fresh produce portfolio. Plans are afoot for a short-sea freight line between a northern Spanish port - either Santander or Bilbao - and Dunkirk. Norfolkline - a shareholder in DailyFresh - is considering the proposal.
“A lot of volume from Spanish fresh produce operators could come to Dunkirk,” said De Vries. “The UK ranks as second largest market for Spanish produce and as a sector we should realise that not all of it needs to be trucked.” As a significant proportion of volumes out of Spain are transported by one-driver services, De Vries thinks this presents DailyFresh and Dunkirk with an opportunity. “DailyFresh has the flexibility to capture part of the traffic. We are not just coping with transport, we deal with it. This is logistics, this is our business,” said De Vries.
DailyFresh now plans to develop its network of consolidation centres eastern Europe.
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