“Trick is to constantly know where the pallets are”

Russia’s closed borders caused a decreasing demand for pallets from the fresh produce sector last year. Automation projects at retailers require standardization of pallets. Stefan Apel, country general manager at CHEP Benelux, talks about the pool system and trends in the sector.

There are various ways to set up a pool system. It’s often tricky to get pallets back to the Netherlands after export. Traditionally, an exporter buys or rents pallets that end up at Edeka in Germany, for instance. “The truck driver often has to wait to take the pallets back again,” Stefan (picture right) says. “In Germany, they often work with a voucher, a document that entitles the holder to a pallet. So with a stack of vouchers, you can collect a bunch of pallets in Germany, but the question is whether you’ll get a good pallet.”

With the CHEP system, a client, for instance a wholesaler, orders a number of pallets. Stefan emphasizes that this isn't just for large numbers, but that the company has also come up with a number of digital solutions that are attractive for smaller companies. The wholesaler then indicates to which client the pallets are delivered, where CHEP collects them again. “That could be AH in Zaandam or Pijnacker, but also Edeka Düsseldorf or Coop in Milan,” Stefan says. 

CHEP has locations across Europe to collect the pallets. For instance, a pallet transported from the Netherlands to Greece, can be collected there by CHEP, after which the pallet can immediately be used again. “Our strength is the European network,” Stefan continues. “We constantly exchange information between the location about the number of pallets on their way to what country, so we can anticipate. The trick is to constantly know where the pallets are.”

The chain is thinking about the system, and what the best solution would be. “What does possession of pallets cost compared to the variable costs? Then there is the price pressure from retail and the Russian boycott, which has everyone thinking twice. For two or three years now, it’s been up to the supply chain to deal with this pressure.”

One trend that’s not yet commonplace in fresh produce and retail, is the built-in chip for traceability. “That technology is still rather expensive, so it does see use in high-grade products.” In dry groceries, a shift can be noticed toward a broader range of products, for instance more different flavours of soda, but because the market isn’t increasing, the pallets are becoming smaller. “I don’t know if this will also be an issue in fresh produce, to me it seems a pretty stable sector.”