How we store, sort and distribute frozen food

July 10, 2015 | By DFDS Group | Add a Comment

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In the series Camera Travelling the DFDS World, staff provide an insight in their work. This time, we visited our logistics colleagues in Grimsby in the UK. They provide storage, sorting and distribution of fresh and frozen food to customers, mainly seafood. They distribute the food throughout the country, to supermarkets, to far-flung places and to the centre of London. Their cold store has a capacity to handle over 11,000 pallets of frozen goods.

Meet the office team

Sam Lockwood, took upon the role to show us their work, a role which she took very seriously. She tells: “I am the Transport and Operations Manager here in Grimsby. I am responsible for the distribution of frozen groupage deliveries and the cold store.  We have a team of both cold storage operatives and of truck drivers who are supported by the transport planners and cold store stock controllers”.

“Above is a shot of Greg and myself looking at the booking-in schedule for the cold store, planning labour requirements for the forthcoming days“.

“Pictured above are Max, Darren and Craig who are responsible for the planning, loading, routing, drivers and equipment necessary to make the deliveries as required by the customers“.

“Tracy, Greg, Lizzie and Fern are the Coldstore stock team, who deal with all customers’ stock, both coming in and loading out of the Coldstore.  We have another colleague Lynn, who was not in on the day the picture was taken“.

Busy day at the cold store

The pictures show one of the busy days that the Grimsby team enjoys at the cold store.  Products are coming in and are loaded out, and the cold store guys are putting pallets away in the cold store racks. This is no mean feat. “The super cold store team keeping the customers happy!” says Sam.

Two of the bay guys checking products in that have arrived from Turkey. They are splitting the pallets down and have taken their coats off.  It might be a cold store, handballing boxes certainly keeps them warm!

Discharging a ship

The frozen and fresh food in the cold store arrives amongst other by ship and the team assists in the discharge of weekly vessels, be them in Grimsby or in the Port of Immingham. It includes thousands of tonnes a year of Norwegian fish which are again distributed throughout the UK and Europe.

Trucks ready to go

After collection of the food and storage and sorting in the cold store, truck drivers make deliveries to customers across the country. “We have trucks everywhere. As hauliers of frozen products, we have trucks that run as far south as the trucks can go in Cornwall, and up as far as our colleagues in Scotland,” says Sam.

The team joined DFDS in the beginning of 2014 and that’s why they drive around with Quayside trucks and trailers.

Into the famous Billingsgate Market

“We travel to the extremes of the country, making sure no matter where the customers are, they receive prompt deliveries. We also drive into the City of London, where some of the roads were designed for horses and carts, but skilled drivers such as ours take it all in a days work.

We run a daily service into the famous Billingsgate Market in London which has the largest selection of fresh fish in the United Kingdom.  Our drivers have a great relationship there, with drivers, stall holders and customers, reinforcing the great reputation we all have,” says Sam.

Thank you to Sam Lockwood and her colleagues for showing us around! We will be back with a new story in this series in two weeks!