DHL Global Forwarding has launched an end-to-end solution for Taste Ireland, Australia’s largest distributor of Irish and UK foods.

According to DHL, it will ship Taste Ireland’s products on direct sailings to Australia, selected to minimize transit times and the risks of in-transit food expiry. DHL will use reefers to ensure freshness of the food items, some of which are temperature-sensitive.

To reduce container numbers and optimize transport costs, DHL will consolidate and pack Taste Ireland’s high volumes of orders, which come from customers including major supermarket chains Coles and Woolworths as well as most Irish pubs in Australia.

"We’re excited to be helping Taste Ireland as it makes the leap from SME to global supplier of repute, by giving them total visibility and compliance across every facet of the logistics process as well as the support of our world-class customs clearance processes,” said Tony Boll, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding South Pacific. “Outsourcing the entire supply chain to a single trusted logistics provider gives importers like Taste Ireland huge freedom to extend their horizons. The time previously spent on in-house logistics management can now go into how Taste Ireland markets and sells Ireland’s favourite foods to meet untapped and increasingly hungry demand throughout Australia and the South Pacific.”

To further expedite the delivery process, DHL will also pre-clear Taste Ireland’s shipments with Australian customs prior to arrival, and offer door-to-door air freight for more urgent shipments. Deliveries will be supported by regular reports and status updates through all stages of each shipment’s journey.

“We chose to work with DHL because of their exemplary track record in handling time-sensitive food shipments with strict compliance, accuracy and efficiency,” said EamonEastwood, CEO of Taste Ireland. “As our business continues to grow at breakneck speed, we needed a forwarder who could not only simplify and speed up our shipping process across numerous line items, but give us full visibility of and confidence in our shipments’ freshness when they arrive at each customer’s door.”