A SMALL bakery has put its dough into a new freezer van – and profits are rising as a result.
Speciality breads maker, Rink Bakery from Lancashire, has acquired its own freezer van having used a third party courier for delivery.
The CoolKit supplied Mercedes Sprinter Euro 6 Chassis Cab features an insulated box body which caters for four pallets at a time – which holds approximately 8,400 buns.
“We spent several thousand a month on distribution through a third party,” explained Justin Hardman, Bakery Manager at Rink Bakery.
“The third party was reliable, but price was a factor. We put the investment into a CoolKit van and it’s paying for itself.”
Rink, which employees 18 people, delivers to Hopwells – the distributors for Center Parcs with locations in Nottingham, Sheffield and Birmingham, Oliver Kay in Bolton and bakeries in Manchester and Accrington.
Rink had previously purchased a refrigerated van from CoolKit before using a third party delivery courier.
Justin said: “When we thought of getting a freezer van we went on the CoolKit website and noticed that they’ve started doing the box van design.
“We approached them to see if they could create a box body that fits four pallets in the back. CoolKit are known for their excellent payload as well so we wanted to stay under the 3.5 tonne weight limit. They came back with different chassis and design options and then built it.”
Justin said the new van not only offered them more flexibility, it is also saving the bakery on costs.
“We used to spend thousands a month on third party couriers. Now we spend less than a quarter of what we used to on some of the longer distance trips. It’s paying for itself. We should have bought one years ago.
“All the pallets fit in it comfortably, it looks good and we haven’t had any issues. We can’t ask for any more from a van.”
Rink Bakery says that the CoolKit fridge van will help them to increase the number of deliveries they can make and help grow the business.
“We are trying to grow but it is a very competitive market. If someone rings up and asks for a delivery last minute, now we don’t have to worry about getting in touch with a third party. We have the flexibility to do what we want and deliver when we want.”
Sam Hargreaves, sales specialist at CoolKit, said: “We were able to create a freezer specification reaching -18°C including the overnight standby function on a rear wheel drive chassis, and still achieve a payload of 1050Kg for the customer.”
Mercedes Sprinter Euro 6 Chassis Cab L1 H1 RWD CoolKit conversion
- Hubbard Zero Road and Single Phase Standby Refrigeration Unit
- Double rear doors
- A fold down rear step
- Pallet protection pack – 3 x aluminium double bump floor strips
- LED side and rear marker lights for the insulated body to meet current legislations
- High-intensity LED interior lighting
- Rear parking sensors
- GRP grey textured anti-slip floor
- Insulated body mounted to the vehicle chassis with aluminium subframe
- 2 x shoring poles to use as a load restrain method within the box body
Cool, I’ve never seen a van that was made in order to transport bread. Very funny 🙂