Waitrose shortens supply chain by opening frozen beef unit

July 16, 2013

Waitrose has opened one of the UK’s shortest supermarket supply chains in Dovecote Park Estate, with the addition of a new frozen beef unit added to its network.

The new facility has enabled the supermarket chain to produce all of its beef products on site and it now has no reliance on other third party companies supplying and packaging its meat, meaning that the supply chain is shortened, with the distance between farm and shelf greatly reduced.

The opening will also create 12 new jobs to handle the extra work at Dovecote Park, which has been working with Waitrose for some time.

The new facility was opened after the horsemeat scandal that occurred earlier this year. Food manufacturer Birds Eye has recently announced its commitment to sourcing all of its beef from the UK and Ireland by the end of the month after they were rocked by the scandal.

Although Waitrose was never found to have any horsemeat in any of its products, the company aims to ensure full traceability in its supply chain.

Heather Jenkins, Buying Director for meat, poultry, fish, frozen, dairy and agriculture at Waitrose said: “For our customers the beef is fully traceable as it’s controlled by one processor. It shortens the supply chain and gives our customers total reassurance about where their beef has come from.

“Our customers rightly expect the highest standards of product quality and integrity from us and we won’t let anything stand in the way of delivering this.”