Mars UK cuts its carbon footprint with £350m DHL warehousing deal
SWEET giant Mars UK has struck a £350 million warehousing and logistics deal that it says will cut one million miles from its annual haulage footprint.
The food and petfood giant has signed a deal with logistics firm DHL which will see two huge warehouses built in the East Midlands, at Castle Donington, and London. Both sites will be used by Mars Wrigley, Mars Food and Mars Pet Nutrition, Mars’ three biggest UK subsidiaries.
The firm says it will cut its annual outbound logistics carbon footprint in the UK by 7.7%, equivalent to the annual emissions of heating 543 homes.
The sites, at the SEGRO East Midlands Gateway on the Derbyshire/ Leicestershire border and the London Thames Gateway east of the capital, will have a combined size of one million sq ft and will increase Mars’ warehousing capacity by more than 50 per cent.
Tim Walker, supply chain director at Mars UK, said: “Our partnership with DHL will deliver a world-class logistics operation that is sustainable, smart and agile. What is good for our business is also good for the planet. ”
Jim Hartshorne, DHL Supply Chain’s managing director for retail and consumer and Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to be extending our global partnership with Mars in the construction and management of these sites. Our shared environmental commitments are supported by this investment and we are creating long term, exciting jobs in both of these communities.
“This project will be the foundation of the UK logistics chain for Mars for many years to come and we are incredibly proud to be selected to lead in this project.”
The purpose-built depots will be partially solar-powered with automated pallet storage, with the East Midlands operational in the spring of 2022, and London in 2023.
Mars UK moves more than 1.2 million pallets of products every year – stacked on top of each other that would reach to the top of Mount Everest every other day. It has global revenues of around £26 billion. Its brands include Skittles, M&Ms, Snickers, Twix and Whiskas.
DHL offers logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfilment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport and industrial supply chain management, and has about 380,000 employees in more than 220 countries.
DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group.