Tata gets ‘down to a tea’ with ND

Tata Global Beverages has awarded a three year contract to Norbert Dentressangle for the UK storage and distribution of Tetley teas.

Employing more than 3,000 people worldwide, Tata Global Beverages is the world’s second largest producer of tea by retail sales. An astonishing forty-five million cups of Tetley are drunk around the world every day and enjoyed in 70 countries.

A major factor in Tata’s decision to appoint Norbert Dentressangle was its ability to facilitate collaboration with other major FMCG manufacturing customers, namely Kellogg’s and Kimberly-Clark.

Under the new contract, Norbert Dentressangle will re-locate warehousing from the current Tetley warehouse at Newton Aycliffe, to its own Merlin warehousing facility in Manchester, which will be shared with existing occupant, Kellogg’s. In addition to product from Tetley and Kellogg’s, Norbert Dentressangle’s Manchester site will also consolidate product from Kimberly-Clark’s Northern distribution centre in nearby Chorley, prior to delivery to retail and wholesale customers throughout the UK, delivering significant efficiency, cost and environmental benefits to all parties.

Norbert Dentressangle will also be responsible for the linehaul of raw tea from Port of Tyne into Tata Global Beverages’ Eaglescliffe manufacturing plant in Stockton-on Tees and will operate around 14 shuttles per day – each carrying around four million teabags – to transport finished product from Eaglescliffe to Manchester.

A dedicated project team will be responsible for the transfer of Tetley stock from Newton Aycliffe to Manchester, in order to ensure a seamless transition and maintain service levels to Tetley customers throughout the implementation. Norbert Dentressangle has invested in the region of £150,000 at the Merlin warehouse which will accommodate around 10,000 pallets of Tetley product.

The distribution operation is served by Norbert Dentressangle’s shared-user, high cube transport network, which provides optimised, national distribution solutions for manufacturers of bulky yet light product. Offering 20% more capacity than a traditional trailer, Norbert Dentressangle’s high-cube network supports higher pallet volumes per trailer, thereby reducing the number of vehicles required to execute deliveries.

Steve Eastham, VP of Operations, EMEA for Tata Global Beverages said: “By making it possible for us to collaborate with Kellogg’s and Kimberly-Clark, Norbert Dentressangle’s solution allows us to increase our delivery frequency and improve service to our customers. It also maximises utilisation of both warehouse space and transport, which will reduce road miles and fuel bills, helping to reduce the effect of increased costs both in the supply chain and elsewhere in the business, as well as supporting the sustainability agenda which is at the heart of Tata Group’s strategy .

“The new arrangement is a great fit for both parties and we look forward to working in partnership with Norbert Dentressangle to realise these benefits over the next three years.”

In addition to the new contract with Tata Global Beverages, Norbert Dentressangle is also responsible for Tata Steel’s finished goods transport operations, through its national 4PL platform.