IN LINE with the trend towards niche products and services, a. hartrodt has positioned its Cape Town office as a specialist food and beverage logistics provider. A few years ago the company’s managing partners decided to explore this market as part of a service offering to existing and new clients, says service executive Michelle le Roux. “The result was the creation of food and beverage as a highly specialised, independent division of the group,” she told FTW. Currently the Cape Town branch houses the first South African food and beverage logistics office, a logical decision based on the vast exports of wine, bottled water and olive oil from the area. “It has since implementation proved to be a fruitful venture for the company,” says Le Roux. “The division works closely with its clients offering logistics solutions and attending to the special requirements of short lead times, temperature control and purchase order management that high quality and sensitive food and beverage products demand.” A web-based state of the art order control and tracking system dedicated to food and beverage industry clients provides access to information on their goods in transit. The company has more than 30 dedicated food and beverage logistics offices around the world.
