Learning Points:
- Chelmer Foods transitions to pooled reusable plastic pallets, improving supply chain efficiency and customer satisfaction without retrieval headaches.
- Standardized, durable pallets reduce breakage and maintenance, offering a higher-quality solution without significant upfront costs.
- Exploration of inbound pallet use could further streamline operations, reducing empty pallet removal challenges.
Chelmer Foods, a leading supplier of dried fruits, nuts, seeds, and pulses for industries such as cereal manufacturing, bakeries, and food service suppliers, has adopted plastic pallet pooling with Tosca, a global leader in reusable packaging solutions, according to Tosca. The company has transitioned to Tosca’s MP3/DIC 1210 pooled reusable plastic pallets, addressing long-standing operational challenges and paving the way for future efficiencies.
Inconsistent Quality Second-Hand Plastic Pallets Eliminated
As Chelmer Foods expanded, managing thousands of pallets across four internal locations became increasingly complex. The company relied on approximately 6,000 second-hand plastic pallets, but their inconsistent quality caused frequent issues with durability and reliability. These problems led to resource-draining repairs and impacted customer satisfaction. The need for a sustainable, efficient solution became even more pressing as customer demand for food-grade plastic pallets grew.
Discussing a path forward with Tosca proved to be fruitful. “Since the initial discussions with Tosca began, the process has been extremely straightforward and has genuinely reduced the noise surrounding plastic pallets and associated issues,” said Simon Heather, Director at Chelmer Foods.
Existing Tosca Customer Relationships Facilitated a Smooth Conversion
Switching to Tosca’s pooled plastic pallets immediately solved many of these challenges. The MP3/DIC 1210 pallets offered Chelmer Foods the consistent quality needed to eliminate breakages, significantly improving supply chain reliability. These durable, food-grade pallets helped the company meet its operational and customer satisfaction goals without the significant investment required to purchase pallets outright.
By leveraging Tosca’s pooling system, Chelmer Foods also eliminated the logistical headaches of pallet maintenance and tracking. This allowed the company to focus on its core business, saving time and resources previously spent on pallet repairs and collections. Tosca’s existing customer relationships made for a smooth conversion. For shippers, trying to establish retrieval cooperation for proprietary pallets can often be problematic for customers dealing with many types of inbound pallets.
“Tosca’s pre-existing relationships with our customers have certainly made for a smooth transition, and it has gone exactly as planned,” Heather noted.
Why Use Two When One Will Do?
The partnership between Chelmer Foods and Tosca is just the beginning. As we like to say at Reusable Packaging News, with credit to Norman Cahners, Why Use Two When One Will Do? If you can reuse inbound pallets for outbound shipping, you can save empty pallet removal hassles while also saving the delivery cost of pallets needed for outbound shipments.
With this point in mind, the companies are now exploring using pooled plastic pallets for inbound shipments, which could further streamline the supply chain. Reusing the same pallets for both inbound and outbound shipments would help alleviate empty pallet removal challenges while maintaining the high-quality standards of downstream shipments.
Additionally, Chelmer Foods is considering implementing Tosca’s foldable bins. These bins align with industry trends favoring plastic for regulatory compliance and offer further sustainability and efficiency benefits.
Heather believes the relationship will be flexible, with the capacity to adapt to market changes. “Looking forward is always slightly tricky with demand from our customers ever-changing, but in Tosca, I know that we have a partner that is flexible and has a willingness to try to solve those demands alongside us,” he said.
Standardized Quality Without Upfront Investment
One of the most significant advantages of pooling models such as Tosca is the ability to standardize on a high-quality, durable pallet without needing a significant upfront investment. For companies like Chelmer Foods, this ensures operational consistency, reduced waste, and enhanced customer satisfaction while contributing to a more sustainable supply chain.
Also from Tosca
Tosca Adds 10th Reusable Packaging Service Center in Central Europe
Tosca Taps Nigel Lemmon as New CIO
Tosca Welcomes Marco González as Managing Director, Central Europe – Downstream
Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.
