Road journeys slashed by Kellogg’s port deal

A deal sealed by Kellogg's for flexible warehouse space at the Port of Liverpool will lead to reduced road journeys.

The cereal giant says increased use of the Manchester Ship Canal container shuttle service will enable it to slash supply chain road miles by 85%.

In total, 2,500 container loads of Kellogg's cereal products will be transported via water between the company's Manchester, Ireland and Iberia distribution hubs in 2013.

Containers are transferred at the Port of Liverpool to a coastal feeder service serving Ireland and Spain.

Kellogg's deal with Peel Ports includes flexible "on demand" warehousing at the Port of Liverpool, with storage for up to 7,000 pallets of cereal product available when required.

The Ship Canal shuttle service already serves other major retail names such as Princes Foods, Kingsland Wine, Tesco, Typhoo and Regatta.

Kellogg's says increased use of the shuttle service will equate to an 85% reduction in road miles for the supply chain – a reduction of 40,000 road miles and 61 tonnes of CO2 in the coming year.

Paul Blears, freight operations manager at Kellogg's, said: "We are working closely with Peel Ports to activate the increasing opportunities for waterborne transport.
"By reviewing our supply chain strategy and integrating waterways we are seeing our sustainability goals come to life."

Paul McCoy, Peel Ports' business development manager,said: "Peel Ports is developing a series of mini ports and multi-modal logistics hubs at various locations along the Manchester Ship Canal, which means we can bring containerised products inland to exactly where the customer wants it."