The manufacturer has now outsourced all of its inbound tea production and finished goods export logistics requirements to the Port of Tyne for international markets, including Canada, the US, Asia and Europe.
In addition to having a significant impact on cost reduction levels by taking trucks off the roads and using the coastal feeder service to South Shields instead, Tetley claimed the partnership reduced its carbon footprint.
Environmental savings
It calculated it saved more than 730,000 road miles a year by shipping within the UK using the South Shield service, removing 987,840kg of CO2 from the atmosphere, based on fuel consumption of 8.8 miles per gallon.
Tetley group logistics manager David Cook said: “When it comes to working with the Port of Tyne logistics team, what continues to impress us is their eternal commitment to service improvement and excellence.
“The COVID pandemic provides a perfect example. During this extreme period, they immediately rose to all challenges presented and ensured our global supply chain was not only resilient, but could scale to cope with extra product demand.”
Long-term partnership
The Port of Tyne has worked with Tetley for the past 20 years and has enabled the manufacturer to ship products closer to the point of consumption. Developments in shipping techniques has helped increase the amount of tea shipped per container by 10%.
Richard Newton, commercial director for logistics at the Port of Tyne, added: “Retaining the custom of a mega brand like Tetley for over 20 years wouldn’t be possible if we were not able to precisely meet their requirements and we have demonstrated our effectiveness in doing this for almost 20 years.
“It is a perfect example of the long term, strategic commercial logistics partnerships we want to foster at the Port of Tyne.”
Meanwhile, lack of clarity regarding exports to the EU and a continued shortage of shipping containers are plaguing UK food manufacturers.
