RABELINK HAS BEEN BRINGING NUTS TO THE WHOLE OF EUROPE FOR 25 YEARS
Doetinchem/Duisburg, 21 September 2016. Rabelink, the Dutch company of the Duisburg-based HUETTEMANN GROUP, has been Intersnack’s logistics partner for exactly 25 years. Rabelink manages the entire European supply chain for nuts for the food manufacturer. Man-sized, white big bags – filled to the brim with nuts – are stacked on pallets by the thousands on the shelves. Forklifts steer unerringly through the rows of shelves – nuts are omnipresent in the logistics centre of Rabelink Logistics in Doetinchem near Arnhem in the Netherlands. The Dutch HUETTEMANN company operates Intersnack’s central nut warehouse here.
“We have been providing logistics services for nuts since 1991,” says Rabelink Managing Director Alwin Schweckhorst. “And the more I have to do with them, the better they taste to me. Besides, nuts are even really healthy, despite their high fat content. They contain vitamins, nutrients and minerals, they strengthen the heart and promote concentration.”
4,500 containers per year
Whether peanuts, cashews or macadamias: Rabelink brings the healthy energy sources from the world’s growing countries to Europe by sea freight. Every year, Rabelink imports around 4,500 containers for Intersnack via Rotterdam. One part goes directly to the Intersnack production facilities in Europe, the other part is delivered by Rabelink to Doetinchem, about 150 kilometres from Rotterdam.
Thus, up to 20 containers with nuts dock at the 22 gates of the Rabelink logistics centre every day. Immediately after unloading, the employees start storing them in the heavy-duty racking system. “Most of the nuts arrive in bigbags, some also in cartons. We put the bigbags and boxes on pallets and move them to a very specific shelf location depending on the item number,” explains Alwin Schweckhorst. Semi-automatic shuttle racks support the employees during storage and retrieval. In total, Rabelink keeps between 9,000 and 10,000 pallets of nuts in stock at the Doetinchem warehouse at all times.
Internationally certified
“We have created optimal hygienic and climatic conditions for storage,” explains Schweckhorst. “The storage temperature is permanently between eight and twelve degrees and the humidity is also precisely regulated. In addition, we are certified according to the highest international standards.” These include AIB, IFS, Skal and BRC for food and storage/distribution. Rabelink also provides various value-added services and completes the nut supply chain by transporting the goods to the Intersnack plants.
Incidentally, the HUETTEMANN GROUP is not only involved with nuts for Intersnack: HUETTEMANN is also responsible for the vegetable oil transports to the European plants – and has been for many years.
Successful cooperation
“We have come to know HUETTEMANN GROUP as a very reliable partner with a long-term focus,” says Arie Endendijk, Managing Director Intersnack Procurement. “Our successful cooperation is certainly no coincidence: we are both internationally active companies and have German roots. We hope for a successful continuation of our partnership in the future.”
Brief portrait of Rabelink Logistics
Rabelink was founded in 1930 in Doetinchem, the Netherlands, and has been part of the HUETTEMANN Group since 2005. Around 300 employees work for Rabelink Logistics. The logistics service provider has a fleet of 130 trucks and 185 trailers as well as several logistics facilities with a combined storage capacity of around 45,000 square metres and space for 70,000 pallets. At the beginning of 2015, Rabelink commissioned a new transhipment terminal in Wehl (district of Doetinchem) and also moved its headquarters to the new location.
Brief portrait HUETTEMANN GROUP
“Logistics and More.” – This is the motto under which the HUETTEMANN GROUP bundles its comprehensive range of services. In addition to contract logistics, this includes logistics solutions for advertising materials as well as worldwide transport management. Throughout Europe, the medium-sized, internationally active logistics service provider employs around 715 people at 25 locations. The headquarters of the HUETTEMANN GROUP, founded in 1956, is in Duisburg.
