share foods turns to pooling leader for reliable pallet supply
Cologne, July 12, 2018 – With its launch on March 12, 2018, the social start-up share foods got off to a brilliant start. Although the path to the supermarket shelf for founders is usually rocky, share’s sustainable food and care products proved successful from the first day of product placement in 5,000 Rewe and dm stores. Persistently high demand required fast and flexible logistics services. In addition to the CHEP Germany quarter pallet range for eye-catching secondary placements at the POS, the Berlin-based start-up company is using the CHEP Euro and half pallet to bridge the last mile in the retail sector.
Emergency aid and long-term security of supply
The share product range includes organic nut bars, hand soap and natural mineral water. It has an innovative social approach to sharing. According to its 1 + 1 principle, every purchased item helps a needy person at home or abroad with an equivalent product. For example, it donates a portion of food for each organic nut bar sold. Together with social partners, this will ensure access to food, drink and hygiene. With every purchase of a bottle of share’s mineral water z, it finances the construction of wells in cooperation with the aid organization Aktion gegen die Hunger. This concept has been well-received by shoppers.
At the beginning, share opted for the pallet exchange procedure, which in retrospect proved to be inadequate. “Like many other companies today, we were confronted with the problem that there were not enough pallets available,” recalls Sebastian Stricker, co-founder and CEO of share. “Shortly after our launch, the largest social brand in Germany so far, we were already struggling with difficulties for our suppliers, which is serious for a start-up. We were looking for a partner who would guarantee a reliable pallet supply of consistently high quality even at peaks.”
After detailed research, it chose to CHEP, world leader in pallet pooling, for its pallet needs. Based on the principle of “rent instead of buy”, share now draws pallets from CHEP, which – independently of the exchange procedure – delivers the desired amount of pallets to the right place at the right time. The business model adapts to the organic growth of companies as well as a booming economy. As the CHEP pallet pool is a closed loop, only high quality, blue CHEP pallets are in circulation. share was attracted to the benefits of pooling, such as paying only for use, and having CHEP manage issues such as pallet recycling, cleaning and maintenance.
The very beginning of the cooperation proved to be extremely effective. CHEP, which uses a range of measures to promote the entry of innovative start-ups into the retail sector, offered share immediate help so that the supply chain to the retail sector was not interrupted. Within a few days, CHEP organized a comprehensive logistics concept that guarantees the on-time delivery of mineral water to the Rewe and dm branches.
“We are surprised by the great response our concept has come up with, helping people in need by reaching for the right product on the shelf,” says Stricker. “Only when our products are available can our 1 + 1 principle also take hold. With each time a product is unavailable on the shelf, valuable help is lost. With CHEP, we have found the ideal partner who not only provides us with security of supply, but also shares our high standards of corporate social responsibility and sustainability.”
Share Foods GmbH was founded in April 2017 by Dr. Ing. Sebastian Stricker, Ben Unterkofler, Iris Braun and Tobias Reiner. The Managing Director of share, Sebastian Stricker, previously founded the donation app ShareTheMeal, which has already distributed more than 20 million daily rations of food to starving children worldwide and is now run by the United Nations. In addition to the major trading partners REWE and dm, share is supported by various social partners and celebrities.
Source: CHEP Germany (Google Translate)