Consolidation

By consolidating produce, distributors can maximize truckload capacity, minimize transportation costs, and improve freshness by reducing the time products spend in transit. It also enables retailers to offer consumers a wider variety of products while managing inventory more effectively. Overall, produce consolidation plays a crucial role in optimizing the distribution of agricultural products from farms to markets.

The advantage of consolidation warehouses is having a nationwide shipping network and access to a larger variety of produce without the costly infrastructure and management of the facility, team, and fleet.

Some of the services available through Fresh Avenue consolidation are:

• Repacking
• Case Pick/Pallet Builds to optimize truck utilization
• Order/Drop sequencing
• Direct Delivery
• Forward Distribution
• Cross Dock

Yes, here are a few ways:

• Less shrink & out of stocks
• Higher frequency of deliveries
• Faster response to changes in demand or product issues
• More purchasing control
• Better utilization of warehousing
• Reduces hard to manage LTL shipments
• Saving through reduction in waste and maximizing of sales
• Fewer inbound LTL shipments from different vendors

Yes!  Here’s how:

• Centralized warehousing allows optimization of pallets and loads
• Once we ascertain your purchasing rhythm, we typically deliver load savings by reducing number of trucks
• Leverage pick-up efficiencies by working with a large network of growers, suppliers, and producers
• Our goal is to fill every pallet space every time
• Reduces carrier pick-ups
• Allows you to strengthen negotiation with carriers
• Savings through reducing number of trucks required and freight rates per truck

Consolidation is a great way to ensure a greater level of produce freshness and quality through the following:

• Trucks dispatched and on the road faster with greater frequency
• Reduces Shrink
• Less loading activity means streamlined handling of product   
• Savings with longer lasting, higher quality product
• More frequently buying/replenishment cycles

Absolutely! Variety increases through consolidation by easily accessing smaller specialty producers on a direct basis and then adding those LTL orders to existing shipments.

A deeper supplier list helps mitigate risk in your supply chain by bringing in other areas (growing regions) of production and supply. 

Consolidation helps you preserve existing grower relationships and introduce them efficiently into your supply channels by: 

•  Negotiate directly with a broader base of producers
• This expanded base of producers supports continuity of supply
• Less reliance on 3rd parties 
• Greater access to small and/or specialty producers and product lines
• This results in more vendors competing for your business

Consolidation enhances operational performance with:

• Independent quality checks at source (the least disruptive place to spot problems)
• More frequent inbound
• Optimizes truck utilization – fewer trucks to manage
• Right-sized orders arriving more frequently and drive better utilization of valuable warehouse space
• Comprehensive reporting and tailored communication based on your needs

We work with you to build off your existing team – bringing in extra support dedicated to your account and acting like an internal asset without the overhead of hiring a team. 

Your advantages:

• Lightens workload
• Supported by the Fresh Avenue purchasing and logistics team and their 20+ years of consolidation experience
• Dedicated Fresh Avenue team members assigned to your account
• Outsourcing of administrative workload on things like track and trace, appointment scheduling, re-routing, supplier delay management
• Fresh Avenue acts as an extension of your team helping with rapid transmission/processing of supply side information that helps your professionals make real time decisions to drive out cost and increase freshness.