FRESH EXPRESS FARMS JUMPING INTO CHEP PALLET POOLING

RICHARD TURCSIK

SALINAS, Calif. -- Fresh Express Farms here is in the process of incorporating the Chep USA pallet pooling system into all its production facilities, at the request of its customers.

"Our customers are the ones who dictate whether we use Chep USA or not," Scott Wise, national sales coordinator for Fresh Express, told Brand Marketing.

In the long run, Wise said, he expects the Chep USA system to save money because it will cut down on the number of lost or stolen pallets. Manufacturers rent pallets from Park Ridge, N.J.-based Chep USA, which then tracks the pallets through the distribution system, saving on lost pallet costs.

"With Chep there is a tracking system, so you know where the pallets are in the distribution system. The old way it is easy to lose pallets and for all you know they can be in somebody's bonfire at the beach," he said.

Wise said the switch is expected to result in a more productive flow of goods through the company's distribution channels and increased efficiencies for Fresh Express' trading partners.

Fresh Express is gradually changing over to the blue Chep USA pallets and will continue to use other pallets if a customer requests them, Wise said.