New methods needed for cold deliveries
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NEW systems of distribution of frozen food will be needed to cope with consumption of frozen food claimed National Freight Corporation chief Thompson this week. He was speaking at the first International Frozen Conference in London. vastly increased executive Peter Food Industries "The increased demands on transport and storage will be very marked, as much of the anticipated growth will be in bulky items such as cakes. and the growth in volume will be 130 per cent in 1982 compared with 1977 figures," he said.
A growth in retail sales through superstores would be reflected by trends towards larger deliveries by the distributor to hypermarkets, said Mr Thompson.
Demands of the retail trade would mean that the operator would need to develop multipurpose vehicles capable of delivering a whole range of frozen goods to one store.
And Mr Thompson urged manufacturers to come to agreement to share the methods of distribution to cut the costs allowing an efficient regional distribution without the manufacturer being involved in capital expenditure.
He also foresaw a growth in delivery to individual homes as the home freezer business expanded.
"I can visualise in the 1980s the establishment of home deliveries using distribution without intermediate warehousing techniques," said Mr Thompson, and he thought that this would reduce the additional transport premium.
"The cold storage and refrigerated transport industry in the UK will have no difficulty in meeting the challenge of the growth and changing distribution pattern for frozen foods in the UK," he said. But he added that this was dependent on manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers accepting the need for change in systems of delivery.