Any peak season can play havoc with the reverse logistics of reusables, and COVID-19 has stretched resources for many. Retailers may not have the staffing hours needed to organize store back rooms, for example, and delivery drivers, hardpressed to complete deliveries as quickly as possible, may not have time to spend sorting through empty dunnage to get to the reusable packaging they are responsible for returning. None the less, the return of reusables is crucial to the ongoing delivery of food and other essential products, as we are reminded by Bakers Basco.
Bakers Basco is issuing an urgent appeal to the British nation and local businesses to report any missing bread baskets and dollies that can be recovered by their teams to ensure the continued supply of essential bread and associated products to supermarkets during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The global crisis has already had an unprecedented impact on the UK economy and every industry sector is suffering in these challenging times. As a supplier of essential goods, the bakery industry is at risk of demand outstripping supply, so it is more important than ever to ensure that bakers have access to the equipment they need to maintain the regular supply and delivery of bakery products.
Bakers Basco equipment plays a vital role in the supply chain to ensure the continuous daily supply of bread and associated products from bakeries to supermarket shop floors across the UK. The company has already put an additional £1 million worth of equipment into the system but if existing stock is not returned, bakers soon won’t be able to get their bread to the shop shelves if equipment continually needs to be replaced.
During the current coronavirus pandemic, demand for bread has increased but if we continuously lose baskets (through people and other businesses taking them and using them without permission), it is set to become increasingly more difficult to keep the supply of this staple food at the same rate as what retailers currently require. Bakers are doing a tremendous job despite dealing in such difficult circumstances, which includes unexpected staff and driver shortages. Bakers Basco stresses the critical importance of getting baskets back into the system to ensure that retailers do not face a shortage of products if bakers do not have the correct equipment to ship it.
“We know that many companies, which may have shut down during this time may be holding onto some of our equipment in their closed premises which they aren’t using, so we urge them to get in touch so that we can recover this equipment and re-introduce it back into the food chain to ensure that essential bread supplies can continue to operate,” Bakers Basco appeals.
“We are issuing an urgent plea to everyone across the nation to be vigilant and report any bread baskets and dollies,” states Joe Street, Chairman of Bakers Basco. “Demand for bread is higher and we need these trays in order to keep the supply of bread going. Everyone needs their bread, more so than ever. For the sake of the nation – including key workers out there fighting this virus on the front line and those most vulnerable we are asking that people look out for abandoned or misused bread trays and dollies, call us, using the telephone number on the kit so that we can advise how to repatriate or for us to recover. Often people don’t realize that this equipment is clearly marked as the property of Bakers Basco and provides one of the most environmentally-friendly distribution systems as trays are returned to bakeries where they are washed and then re-used many times.”