DHL Exel Supply Chain opens U.K. distribution center for Unilever

DHL Exel Supply Chain opens U.K. distribution center for Unilever

   DHL Exel Supply Chain Wednesday opened of a 40,000 square meter distribution center that it will manage on behalf of Unilever UK Foods, in Cannock, in the Staffordshire county of the United Kingdom.

   The new site employs 200 people to store, pick, repack and dispatch brands such as Hellmann’s, PG Tips, Knorr and Liptonaround to 2,000 stores nationwide.

   “This site uses the very latest systems to ensure that each U.K. store has the right quantity of individual Unilever products at any given time. Our co-packing facility, operated by DHL, also means that we can prepare specialist store promotions of particular products,” said John Pattullo, DHL Exel Supply Chain’s chief operating officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

   The co-packing market in the U.K. is estimated to be worth '1 billion ($1.78 billion) each year.

   Deutsche Post, Europe’s largest postal service and owner of DHL, bought U.K. logistics company Exel for 5.6 billion euros ($6.9 billion) in December. The enlarged logistics unit now operates under the DHL brand with two logistics brand areas: DHL Exel Supply Chain and DHL Global Forwarding.