Bretts is one of the UK’s most established and trusted warehousing and distribution companies specialising in ambient foods.

Bretts is one of the UK’s most established and trusted warehousing and distribution companies specialising in ambient foods.

The company’s quest to provide customers with a consistent, high-quality service has led to a number of long-standing relationships with some of the best-known brands on supermarket shelves.

Among them, Conserve Italia – producer of Cirio – which has used Bretts’ services for over 30 years.

In that time consumer demand for Conserve Italia’s products has increased. In line with changing demands Bretts frequently reviews its offering in a bid to continue delivering best value and an unrivalled service.

It’s a formula that works well. With an impressive heritage spanning more than 90 years Bretts strives daily to continue laying strong foundations to futureproof the business, ensuring its longevity for decades to come.

QUALITY SERVICE FROM BRETTS TRANSPORT HELPS CONSERVE ITALIA’S BUSINESS TO RIPEN

A consistently solid and reliable logistics service—one that has become integral to maintaining a strong brand reputation—sits at the heart of a decades-long relationship between Guyhirn-based Bretts Transport and one of its longest-standing partners, Conserve Italia.

The partnership spans more than 30 years, during which Bretts has supported Conserve Italia’s continued expansion. The Italian agri-food cooperative is one of Europe’s leading producers of preserved fruit and vegetables and represents more than 14,000 Italian farmers whose crops supply well-known products such as juices, purées, canned tomatoes and syrups. Its portfolio includes major European brands with strong UK presence, including Cirio and Valfrutta.

Nicola Zannoni, Supply Chain Director and Client Relations at Conserve Italia, said Bretts’ strong values, combined with consistently high service quality, had been fundamental to the longevity of the relationship.

He said: “When goods are handled with care and delivered properly it reflects strongly on our brand. Whether our products are being delivered into a supermarket or just-in-time it is really important to us that each and every one of our customers receives the service they pay for.”

Having worked with Bretts for more than 20 years, Nicola says it was one of the first supplier relationships he forged—and one that has grown alongside the cooperative’s own development. In the last 15 years alone, delivery volumes have doubled, something Nicola credits in large part to Bretts’ reliability and flexibility.

He said: “I remember the first time I ever visited Bretts’ premises. Over the following years it was interesting to see how the company continued to evolve – how their warehouses were growing and the improvements they were making.

“This reflection of their success mirrored our own fantastic growth.

“In 2010 Bretts was delivering 11,000 pallets for us and today they deliver between 20,000 and 25,000. And their flexible service means they can manage all sorts of deliveries for us – whether an Amazon or Costco, a Tesco or Morrison’s, or a BFS, 3663 or Country Range, or simply just-in-time delivery for Hello Fresh.

“Anything from a full truck to just two or three pallets is within their capabilities which is excellent as it is just the sort of flexibility we require.”

Nicola recalls one of the most challenging moments of his career—the UK’s nationwide driver shortage—which coincided with Conserve Italia’s planned launch of its Cirio brand in the UK market.

He said: “Bretts MD Simon Brett offered to make changes within his own business and did not hesitate in increasing the number of employed drivers by 30 or 40, as opposed to agency drivers – enrolling every one of them on to a training course.

“It was a great success and perfectly demonstrates why our relationship has lasted for over three decades.

“The company really is a great fit for our needs.

“Recognising that the quality of its people goes hand in hand with delivering a quality service, Bretts invests substantially in people development and training. Simon and his team know if you want to be competitive you have to invest. Today if we have a problem we know exactly who we need to go to and indeed it’s Bretts who are pushing us to see what we can do next to keep pushing the relationship forward.”

While some finished products travel directly from Italy to the UK, most arrive via Italy or France into Bretts’ facilities, where the team handles unloading, storage, order preparation and onward distribution across multiple retail and foodservice channels.

Nicola added: “Nowadays we are living in times where you have to be attentive to every side of your business. There is greater pressure from retailers so we need to ensure that we meet all the demands expected of us – ensuring our deliveries are on time and in full.

“It’s a highly competitive business and hard to survive in business today unless you make this kind of mentality your mantra but Bretts has long been a key player in helping us to ensure we are not wasting time or resources or facing problems with food waste or damage.”

Bretts CEO Simon Brett said: “Over the years Conserve Italia has grown to become a highly-respected leader in its field and we at Bretts are delighted to have played such a significant part in its exciting journey.

“We constantly strive for excellence within our own business – whether investing in more staff and resources to meet customer demand and expectations, or ensuring our standards throughout our operations are continuously high, achieving the highest grade possible in the British Retail Consortium (BRC) audits, and in turn this has helped us attract and retain business from high quality customers such as Conserve Italia.

“Not ones to rest on our laurels we work closely with the BRC who at our request now conduct unannounced monthly visits to ensure our standards remain high at all times.”