Fresh food alliance for Europe

One of the winners in this situation is the potato dumpling. Europe has a real taste for dumplings and other dough-based delicacies: Hans Henglein & Sohn—the market leader in fresh potato products such as dumplings, pasta products, and batter—was proud to announce that in 2017, its transports in 21 countries across Europe increased 27 percent compared to the previous year. In addition to the superior quality it offers, the company also has the European Food Network to thank for this impressive result. “The success is also because of DACHSER’s speed and its European network. In some cases, it takes just 48 hours from customer order to delivery,” says Henglein’s head of logistics Christian Arnold.

He also pointed out that, besides short transit times for fresh products, Henglein particularly appreciates the cleanliness and reliability along the transport chain. The European Food Network is setting standards in the sector for all these criteria: consistent processes, IT standards, and hygiene standards all play their part in maintaining the high level of service. “At any point, we can see where in Europe our products are. And whenever required, DACHSER ensures we can demonstrate an uninterrupted cold chain for our perishable products throughout the entire transport process. We are entirely happy with what the European Food Network offers,” Arnold says.

The European Food Network has been writing its success story for five years now. It was at transport logistic in Munich on May 6, 2013, that Alfred Miller, Managing Director Dachser Food Logistics, and eleven other logistics providers announced the launch of Europe’s first ever integrated network for non-frozen food transport. Under the system leadership of DACHSER, Miller says, the network has been providing “cross-border food logistics from a single source” across Europe ever since.

Regardless of the delivery size, the European Food Network can cater to every need with its clearly defined, cross-border range of groupage transports. Each product line in the vivengo portfolio has a specific, fixed delivery schedule within Europe. For every vivengo shipment, the current shipment status and subsequent proof of delivery (POD) can be viewed online.

Powerful network of Eurohubs

The European Food Network is continuously improving its range of services. In 2016, the first and one of the most important Eurohubs for trans-European food shipments began operations in the German city of Erlensee. The opening of this transit terminal resulted in a reduction of food transport times within Europe by one day on average.

Not long after, a new partner came on board: Logifrio (Spain) has been part of the European Food Network since 2016. In 2017, DACHSER acquired the remaining stake in Italian food contract logistics provider Papp Italia, thus consolidating its position in southern Europe—now as DACHSER Italy.

Belgrade-based food logistics provider Nelt offers groupage shipments that pass through Serbia on their way to Macedonia, Montenegro, or Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thanks to Turkish partner Aktur Lojistik, exports to Turkey can now also take the form of small shipments, and, in 2018, Scandinavian market leader Bring Frigo began handling deliveries in Norway, Sweden, and Finland.

In just five years, the European Food Network has already reached an impressive size. Together, the eleven partners presently offer more than two million square meters of space designed to store food as well as some 11,300 cold-storage transport units. Customers can ship their goods to 34 different countries.

Despite achieving such a strong position after just five years, Alfred Miller and DACHSER’s partners in the European Food Network see no reason to sit back and rest on their laurels any time soon. “Our goal is to become the number one network for European food transport,” Miller says. Featuring dumplings and other culinary delights for European consumers, the success story is far from over—watch this space for the next chapter.