Pallet losses cost Elm plus
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• On February 1 four of Britain's leading food manufacturing companies are to launch a combined pilot scheme for the collection and redistribution of pallets. The companies, who estimate their losses at 35 per cent of the pallets used, are General Foods, Heinz, Nestles and SPD.
In financial terms the total loss to the companies is more than and Mr F. Roberts, of Heinz, estimates that the national loss exceeds 1.1m. The four companies feel that any deposit scheme similar to that applied by steel barrel users could not be employed for pallets.
"We offered pallets as a free service initially," said a spokesman for the group, "but we did not visualize the misuse which now prevails. Our pallets are being used as flooring in warehouses and shops, chopped up as firewood, or directed into other industries."
The pilot scheme will operate for three months and be confined to the area bounded by Carlisle, Keighley, Burton-on-Trent and Cardigan. If proved successful, the pallet consortium will apply it nationally and invite other companies to participate. Each company will collect pallets from users and return them to their own depots. The pallets will be separately identified and in the depots they will be segregated. Thereafter, they will be returned to the depot of the originating company and a transport charge will be imposed. This is now possible under operators' licensing.
The success of the scheme and the ultimate reduction of food distribution costs depends largely on the co-operation of cash-and-carry stores, wholesalers and retailers. The committee, which consists of representatives of all companies participating, will examine the results achieved by British Road Services Ltd who are on contract to General Foods and Heinz and compare them with those of SPD and Nestles who use their own transport. It is understood that the results of the comparisons could determine the future distribution pattern of the four companies.