Supplier increases storage room to meet potato rush
A sharp seasonal peak combined with the UK’s love of potatoes saw a Cambridgeshire potato supplier significantly increase its storage capacity over the festive period in order to meet significant spikes in demand.
Greenvale, which supplies potatoes to some of the UK’s leading supermarkets, ramped up production to meet significant increase in demand from major supermarkets during December. As a nation that consumed over 120,000 tonnes of potatoes over last year’s festive period alone, Greenvale required a temporary building to enable it to increase onsite storage capacity quickly and effectively, during the food supplier’s busiest time of year.
In order to meet the increase in demand, the company approached temporary building solutions provider Spaciotempo, to supply and install a storage solution that was both cost effective and ensured the safe storage of potatoes. This saw the temporary building feature a thermo-insulated roof and special black-out covers to protect the potatoes from sunlight, while the walls are made up of 40mm insulated panels, to ensure an optimum storage temperature. With installation taking less than a week, and similar timeframes predicted for the removal of the building at the end of February 2016, the building proved a fast and efficient storage solution, on demand for Greenvale.
Dan Barker, Area Sales Manager for Spaciotempo, explained why food manufacturers should look towards temporary solutions during periods of peak demand. He said: “Many food suppliers experience a number of peaks for their products throughout the year, with one of the biggest being the festive period. During such peaks businesses can often find themselves with an increase in demand for their products, but without the necessary resources, such as storage, in place to accommodate such demand.”
“The increase in demand for potatoes meant that Greenvale required a temporary building solution which could be assembled in a short time, ensuring the company could continue to meet growing demand for its product, while also ensuring minimal onsite disruption.
“We have worked with Greenvale for a number of years, and as a result, understand the specific requirements of the food industry. The new storage facility is bespoke to their needs, and ensures produce is stored correctly ahead of distribution. With Easter fast approaching and many other demand peaks for the food industry on the horizon, food manufacturers ought to start considering temporary options as a fast and effective way of catering for demand peaks.”
The temporary waterproof building, which measures 18m x 25m x 4m is used to store end-of-line packs ready for distribution and will remain onsite in March, Cambridgeshire until the end of February 2016. Similar solutions can be purchased and installed again throughout the year, as and when required by the company.
Adrian Dickson, Engineering Manager at Greenvale, said: “We supply potatoes to some of the major supermarkets in the UK and had to increase production significantly to cope with huge Christmas orders. We therefore had a temporary requirement for quite a bit more storage space on site and Spaciotempo provided the ideal solution.
“The building went up very quickly and we’ve added LED lighting, refrigeration and fire alarms to meet all the necessary food and drink regulations.
“We find that temporary solutions like this are the most cost effective, fast, and convenient way for our business to continue to optimise performance during peak periods.”
Photo credit Greenvale facebook account
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