Saudi Retailer Panda Signs with CHEP for Pallet Services
DUBAI, UAE - November 30, 2006 - Panda, a major supermarket and hypermarket retailer based in Saudi Arabia, has entered into a contract with CHEP for Total Pallet Management (TPM) services at their new 65,000 pallet-slot distribution centre in Riyadh, which is expected to open in March 2007. The agreement, signed in October, will ensure that pallet controls are well managed and quality pallets are available at all times. As part of the arrangement, Panda is advocating the use of CHEP pallets with their suppliers for shipment of goods into all three of its distribution centres.
Panda received almost all products from floor-loaded trailers until approximately two years ago, when the company required suppliers to ship on pallets to improve operational efficiencies and decrease labour costs. The retailer is also on course to double its business during the next few years, and needed to further enhance distribution and warehouse management performance. Panda's partnership with CHEP, the global leader in pallet pooling solutions, involves the use of standardized CHEP pallets in the company's internal and external supply chain and came after managers thoroughly researched the alternative unit-load transport systems.
"Panda is growing rapidly and is determined to become the leading food retailing chain in the Middle East. We need to have effective, high quality systems in place to accomplish this goal and the CHEP TPM service covers our transport platform requirements," said Peter Nicolaas Els, Supply Chain Director at Panda.
CHEP managers are now visiting Panda suppliers to show the value proposition of the CHEP pallet pooling system. Already, several leading suppliers including Johnson & Johnson, Abu Danwood, National Foods, Nestlé, Kraft, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi International, and MasterFoods are committed to the program.
"Our partnership with Panda is based on the mutual understanding that the CHEP solution will help the retailer grow rapidly while maintaining an efficient and safe distribution system," said Kevin Smythe, Director, CHEP Middle East.
About Panda
The first Panda supermarket was opened in 1978 in Riyadh. In 1994, Panda merged with Azizia and formed the largest food retail chain in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) under Azizia Panda United. In December 1998, Azizia Panda United became a part of The Savola Group and soon expanded into other regions within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Today, there are more than 50 supermarkets and 6 Hypermarkets employing more than 7,000 people, of whom 35% are Saudi and the rest are expatriates from around the globe. Savola Group is one of KSA's leading companies and stocks in the Saudi market and has over 150,000 shareholders. Following the success of the first hypermarket in Riyadh in mid-2004, Panda opened their second hypermarket in Jeddah in September 2005.
Contact Information
Kevin Smyth,
CHEP Middle East,
+9714 8833989,
kevin.smyth@chep.com
Ronald Margulis,
RAM Communications,
+1 908 272 3930,
ron@rampr.com
