ATLANTA, GA - The produce industry dream team of Grimmway Farms and CHEP is showing no signs of stopping—coming together once again at last week's inaugural Global Organic Produce Exposition & Conference (GOPEX) to show attendees how the duo works together to improve sustainable practices and increase operations efficiency. With CHEP and Grimmway having together transitioned from white wood pallets to pooled pallets, the team reported both economic and environmental benefits.

“Grimmway Farms is always looking for sustainable options that improve operations,” shared Jason Higbee, Director of Materials Management for Grimmway Farms. “CHEP understands the fresh produce industry and the need to keep our supply chain moving as efficiently as possible so we can meet customer expectations, while also cutting costs and carbon.”

According to a press release, the sustainability savings Grimmway has realized since shifting 2.9 million pallets to CHEP’s circular model in 2009 include:

• Elimination of more than 1.63 million pounds of solid waste
• Reduction of more than 1.23 million pounds of CO2e (the equivalent of eliminating 1.4 million miles driven by an average passenger vehicle in one year)

Now, continuing to build on the success both companies have found in their partnership, Grimmway Farms recently brought CHEP into its Cal-Organic Farms facilities to help develop process improvements for goals such as reducing pallet damage, cutting costs, and further improving sustainability. Suggested changes were identified by the CHEP Supply Chain Solutions team, tested at the CHEP Innovation Center, and include adjustments in pallet handling and sorting. As CHEP explained in the release, reducing pallet damage and properly sorting pallets help to benefit sustainability in the following ways:

• Reduction of natural resources (timber) needed in the first place
• Less wood waste going to the landfill, reducing costs and carbon
• Fewer returned pallets, reducing the frequency of trips and related costs and carbon

“CHEP created one of the world’s most sustainable logistics businesses through the share and reuse of our products,” says Laura Nador, President, CHEP North America. “Our work protects forests and reduces landfill. By collaborating with Grimmway Farms, we can do even more to solve shared challenges—from taking out transport miles to fighting food waste. There’s no end to what we can achieve together.”

CHEP’s Supply Chain Solutions leverage the company’s end-to-end supply chain expertise with the goal of helping customers improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase sales. CHEP Solutions include Transportation Optimization, Unit Load Optimization, Product Damage Reduction, Packaging Performance Testing, Environmental Sustainability, and Customer Pallet Storage programs.

CHEP Grimmway Farms