Cool & Fresh Delivery

In this project VIL and Flanders’ FOOD are investigating how
e-commerce companies can best tackle the logistics of fresh refrigerated food products with an eye for food safety, sustainability and affordability.

status: Closed | theme: Last mile | type: Regional

Despite the fact that 2020 was a very good year for e-commerce, online sales of fresh, chilled food remain limited for the time being. The latest market figures indicate that online sales in this category are marginal for the time being but have very high growth rates. The market potential of online fresh food is great.

Goal

This project will develop guidelines for a legally sound, economically feasible and scalable logistics model, including the possibilities of integration with existing last-mile logistics. The developed guidelines can optionally be elaborated by the participants in their business cases after the project. The project looks at the possibilities in the national and international e-commerce market, both in a B2C and B2B context.

In cooperation with:


Results

  • A survey conducted during the project showed that 28% of online consumers were already buying fresh food online.
  • This evolution offers new opportunities for fresh food providers and also for logistics service providers. Although a lack of knowledge often appears to be the reason why companies have not yet started using it.
  • Home deliveries mean transporting smaller quantities to many more different addresses. Even for many logistics service providers, who are familiar with home deliveries, the transport of fresh products has not yet been established.
  • VIL and Flanders’ FOOD have formulated clear recommendations for those who want to get started with e-commerce of fresh food:
    • An actively refrigerated delivery (including through the use of refrigerated trucks)
    • A transparent delivery process with confirmation of the chosen time slot (of no more than two hours)
    • An up-to-date track-&-trace system
    • Adapted procedure for when the customer is not home at the time of delivery 
    • Throughout the process, the cold chain must be maintained and adequately monitored

Practical details

Start: June 2021
End: May 2023
Total lead time: 24 months

Participating companies

18 companies: Air Liquide, Air Products, BD Logistics, Cargo Velo, Dierendonck, DPD Fresh, Dynalogic, Etheclo, Foodbelgium/Streekmarkt.be, Food Express, FoodSprint, GLS, Milcobel, Normec Group, Pittman Seafoods, UPFRESH, Urbike and DV Fresh.


     

 

Would you like to know more?

Contact Geert Verbelen (geert.verbelen@vil.be)

VIL stands for strong logistics in Flanders

VIL VZW

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T: +32 3 229 05 00
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