In recognition of its excellent port centric logistics capabilities and extensive, specialist knowledge of tea logistics, the Port of Tyne has been awarded a long-term, strategic import and export logistics contract with Tetley, following a competitive tendering process. The contract covers the movement of thousands of tonnes of raw tea plus finished product each year.
The 2nd largest tea brand globally, Tetley has outsourced all its inbound tea production and finished goods export logistics requirements to the Port of Tyne for international markets including Canada, USA , Asia and Europe, as well as the UK. This latest agreement reaffirms Tetley’s commitment to fostering a long-term, strategic supply chain partnership and recognises the port’s proven warehousing and logistics capabilities in a specialist industry.
As one of the UK’s leading deep-water ports, the Port of Tyne originally began working with Tetley in 2003 and the scope of services provided has grown every year. Shipping now accounts for 90% of Tetley’s inbound and outbound transportation activities and outsourcing to the port has helped the brand realise many commercial and environmental sustainability benefits. This includes the ability to ship larger, heavier container loads closer to the point of consumption and increase the amount of tea shipped per container by 10% through using slip sheets.
In addition to having a significant impact on cost reduction levels by taking trucks off the roads and using the coastal feeder service to South Shields instead, it reduces Tetley’s carbon footprint also. Tetley has calculated this saves over 730,000 road miles per annum and based on fuel consumption of 8.8 mpg, removing 987,840 kg of CO2 from the atmosphere.
“Retaining the custom of a mega brand like Tetley for over 20 years wouldn’t be possible if we were not able to precisely meet their requirements and we have demonstrated our effectiveness in doing this for almost 20 years. It is a perfect example of the long term, strategic commercial logistics partnerships we want to foster at the Port of Tyne,” says Richard Newton, Commercial Director for Logistics at the Port of Tyne.
“When it comes to working with the Port of Tyne logistics team, what continues to impress us is their eternal commitment to service improvement and excellence. The Covid pandemic provides a perfect example and during this extreme period, they immediately rose to all challenges presented and ensured our global supply chain was not only resilient, but could scale to cope with extra product demand,” says David Cook MCILT, Group Logistics Manager at Tetley.
As part of a significant investment into new technology to enhance its warehousing and logistics services, the Port of Tyne is also due to implement a new WMS solution in July 2021. This will bring further efficiency benefits to Tetley Tea once live.