In March 12.5 million reusable boxes were mobilized in Spain
The demand for reusable boxes for the distribution of fresh products from the producer to the large distribution increased by more than 25% since the state of alarm was declared, as a consequence of the increase in the demand for fresh products. According to estimates, nearly 12.5 million more containers were moved, which would be equivalent to 125,000 more tons of products.
This means that during the second half of March, an additional 5,600 trailers were mobilized from the producers to the supermarket platforms.
After the rebound in demand in the second half of March, orders have stabilized and it is estimated that, in the coming weeks, the activity will increase by 10 to 15% compared to the situation prior to confinement. Pool operators move about 50 million containers a month only in the national sphere.
The fact that the HORECA channels are not working contributes to this increase in the demand for products in supermarkets so that consumption is limited to households. The demand for less perishable fresh products, such as apples and oranges, has increased.
"Pool operators have had to mobilize additional resources to meet this demand," stated Bartolome Saro, the president of ARECO, the association of the main pool operators. "We have had to increase the washing and sanitizing capacity of our centers in order to have containers available and so that all our orders arrive on time."
In parallel, all operators have implemented extraordinary measures to protect the health of their employees and guarantee maximum security throughout the supply chain, such as temperature control for all personnel at the entrance to the facilities, physical and temporal separation of the different work shifts, mandatory use of latex gloves in all operations, and telework for office staff.
The Association of Logistics Operators of Reusable Eco-sustainable Elements (ARECO), which promotes the use of reusable packaging in agri-food distribution to contribute to economic and environmental sustainability, is made up of the IFCO SYSTEMS, Euro Pool System, and Logifruit companies, which account for 90% of this market in Spain.
For more information:
ARECO
Avenida Al Vedat, nº 55, 3º, 6
46900 Torrent (Valencia)
Tel. +34 91 351 36 36
Fax. +34 91 352 63 57
comunicacion@areco.org.es
www.areco.org.es