Taking the stress out of Foodex.

The food industry is one of our biggest markets through poultry, meat, fresh fruit and bakery, and Foodex 2014 was a fantastic visual event for PPS to showcase The Complete Package and Returnable Transit Packaging options. With the launch of our new animated video, show banner and merchandise it certainly gave us the right elements to highlight the range of services available.

Our merchandise was on hand to demonstrate just how our PPS pool trays are used in line with our hygienic plastic pallets. Stacked and filled with PPS stress apples and chickens, they soon became a hit and were popping up all over the exhibition.

Have you got a chicken on your desk?

Halal Chicken producers favour returnable transit packaging (RTP)

As the Muslim population within the UK rises, the demand for Halal slaughtered chicken is increasing. Cardboard for many years has been used to package whole birds, filleted portions and other cuts to the wholesale meat trade, but the use of Plastic Returnable Transit Packaging is becoming the choice for many leading businesses within the sector.

Recent changes within the supply chain influenced Iqbal Brothers Poultry of Bradford to look at other options to their existing use of a mixture of cardboard and their own self-managed plastic crates.

Having looked at all aspects of using plastic crates, Iqbal Brothers decided that the best option is to work with PPS Midlands and develop a pooling solution using PPS Midlands standard RTP consisting of plastic trays and plastic pallets to service their larger customers predominately sited within the East and West Midlands.

Initially the process would start with 2 customers using approximately 5000 trays and 125 pallets per week, however due to the demand for the high quality chicken produced by Iqbal Brothers, the use of PPS equipment has more than doubled over the first 2 months of the operation.

The required levels of equipment by Iqbal brothers have been seamlessly increased as the market continues to grow, PPS midlands are able to cater for the growing demand.

Acceptance within the market has been excellent, with a number of receiver’s of equipment asking PPS Midlands to contact others suppliers to provide a similar service to them.

How Pooling Works? 

In simple terms, it starts with clean equipment delivered to our customer, they load their product into the RTP supplied, and ship to their customer, informing PPS Midlands via our online tracking service “ENABLE” of the volumes of plastic crates/trays and pallets for each of its customers, once the equipment becomes empty collection is arranged. Our Full Service Pooling solution is simple in terms of operation and costs with all equipment charged at an agreed single fee at the point of despatch.

All equipment that is delivered to the receiving locations is collected by a dedicated 3rd party logistics company that have been working with PPS for many years, ensuring that trays/crates and pallets are returned to PPS midlands to undergo the rigorous washing and condition service that all our equipment goes through, once cleaned the equipment is then ready to start the cycle again.

According to an in depth report completed by WRAP, available from http://www.ppsequipment.co.uk/environmental/wrap-report CO2 savings when compared to cardboard use; see a reduction of over 50% over a 5 year period. Indeed in most cases not only are there environmental benefits, there are financial ones when compared to cardboard boxes.

PPS Midlands are offering the opportunity to have a free, no obligation survey of your supply chain completed, to see if your business would benefit from using  RTP supplied by PPSMidlands, contact Jonathan Issatt on 07896 430047 or email me here

Returnable Packaging Specialists Gear Up for Rise in Trade

PPS Midlands Limited Gets Ahead of the Game This Summer

Whist many of us focus on the events approaching now and later this summer, PPS is being proactive and keeping ahead of its competitors by planning for the busy late summer, autumn and the lead up to Christmas.

Jonathan Issatt Business Development Manager for PPS says “There is always high demand for our services, especially tray hire and tray washing. In fact all of our returnable transit packaging (RTP) reaches seasonal heights during the late summer and up to the end of January. This is why we are increasing our RTP equipment stocks during May. June and July, we have focussed on tray hire, crate hire and both pallet / tote box rental and increased our pool sizes considerably in readiness for the increase in business”

“Most businesses are aware that returnable packaging is a major part of most logistics operations, and with that in kind it makes sense to ensure that full provision is made for the peaks in trade well in advance of our customers’ actual requirements”.

PPS Midlands Limited has a full range of support services which include tray, crate, tote box and pallet box washing. PPS Midlands at Measham in East Midlands and PPS East at Grimsby in the North East Lincolnshire are both certificated to BRC Storage & Distribution Quality Standard and are equipped with modern state-of-the-art wash facilities in addition to a number of industrial wash lines specifically designed to wash returnable transit packaging of every shape and size. Both factories are geared up to wash their own pool equipment and in addition can offer contract washing services for third party equipment throughout the peaks of the coming seasons.

PPS holds its annual conference in Doncaster this week and priority for us is how we can better improve our support to our customers both new and old to help reduce their costs, waste and carbon emission particularly during this busy period approaching us.







PPS Midlands Limited and PPS East Limited are returnable transit packaging specialists. If you are interested in reducing your costs, waste and environmental footprint, then you should contact us with regards to reusable equipment and pallet pooling, plastic crates, plastic pallet boxes, container rental and supply, product repairs and equipment washing.