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The Bel Group has decided to include road-rail into its cold logistics
The Bel Group has decided to include road-rail into its cold logistics
Over one third of Kiri and Mini Babybel cheese volumes distributed in Southeast France will use such a solution. This decision came after a successful pilot test conducted with its partner STEF-TFE March 21- 22
During these two days, the Bel Group and STEF-TFE successfully started a first road-rail pilot test between two plants in western France and the Givors logistics platform near Lyon. This is the first time that the Bel Group chooses an intermodal road-rail solution for its temperature-controlled inbound logistics. Logistics flows transferred from road to rail will in due course account for one third of the volumes of Kiri and Mini Babybel sold in Southeast France.
The pilot-test involves the Evron (Mayenne) and Sablé-sur-Sarthe (Sarthe) plants. It is carried on the Rennes-Lyon rail line operated by Combiwest, a subsidiary of SICA Saint-Pol-de-Léon).
A this early stage, the Bel Group uses refrigerated containers which can each accept 22 tons of goods under temperature-controlled conditions (+2° C / +4°C). The refrigerated containers are loaded with pallets of Kiri cheese at the Sablé-sur-Sarthe plant and with Mini Babybel cheese at the Evron plant. The containers are equipped with temperature sensors to ensure a constant traceability and secure the cold chain,.
The containers are brought into the station’s shipping terminal by truck, and are then ferried by rail from Rennes to the Edouard Heriot harbour in Lyon, between 5 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. From there, they are trucked to the STEF-TFE logistics site in Givors (Rhône), where STEF-TFE handles temperature-controlled order preparation bound for Southeast France.
This road-rail solution should eventually handle respectively 90% and 25% of Southeast bound logistics flows out of the Evron and Sablé-sur-Sarthe plants. This will cut 60% of Southeast bound road traffic generated by these two plants.
