On top of that, BerryWorld constantly faced external factors beyond their control that still affected the business. “In logistics, you deal with countless variables: weather, strikes, customs inspections. There are always new challenges to solve.” In the past, this meant having to come up with a different solution every time, costing even more time. Time that would be better spent on growth and developing people and the business itself.
That fragmented way of working was no longer sustainable. The solution? One platform that brings all the data together: Shypple Fresh. Since 2023, BerryWorld in Made has been working with the digital freight forwarding platform Shypple Fresh. For Kees Heeren, responsible for imports from outside the EU, the platform has been a game changer.
“Shypple Fresh shows all our container arrivals on a single screen. That gives us an excellent overview.”
It all started when Kees’ colleagues met Shypple Fresh at one of the fruit and vegetable trade fairs. “An introductory meeting with Shypple was positive for both sides, and in June 2023 we officially got started. The advantage was that the sea freight season for our blueberries, which runs annually from August to early March, always begins gradually. That gave us time to get familiar with the platform. And since Shypple Fresh is so user-friendly, we mastered it quickly.”
“The most important thing for me is that vessel arrival times are always accurate, and they are. If a carrier or port announces a delay or an earlier-than-expected arrival, it’s reflected on the platform almost instantly. Plus, you can easily retrieve past arrivals in the archive.”
“The biggest advantage of Shypple is that we have all our logistics data in one platform. That gives us much more visibility. I find it especially important that all container arrival times are listed in one place. You can also quickly see when a container has been selected for a customs inspection and whether that inspection has been completed. That way, we can move containers from Rotterdam or Vlissingen to Made as quickly as possible.”
Because raspberries and blackberries have too short a shelf life to be shipped by sea, BerryWorld’s seaborne imports are limited to blueberries. “Transit times from countries like Peru and South Africa used to take about three weeks, but thanks to a faster connection between Peru and Vlissingen, this has now been reduced by several days. We’re now entering the final weeks of the Peru season, while continuing with South African blueberries for a bit longer. By the end of December, the Chilean season will start again,” explains the Supply & Logistics Manager.
Kees is a satisfied user. “Perhaps it will change, but at the moment I can’t think of a single feature that I miss on the platform.” Although Shypple Fresh is a digital platform at its core, according to Kees it never comes at the expense of personal contact. “When I need to get something done quickly, I always just pick up the phone. It’s simply nicer to call someone than to only use the chat module. And whenever you have a question, your contact person is always available to guide you through the platform."
"Recently I even visited Shypple Fresh in Rotterdam to keep that personal connection alive, because that’s very important to me. After all, you do business with people not with a program.”
