Metcash gets fresh with shelf-life policy

ELI GREENBLAT
September 6, 2016
The Australian
Metcash will introduce a new shelf-life policy for its suppliers of perishable groceries. The policy ranges from dairy and meat to fruit and vegetables and will enable Metcash to reject deliveries to its distribution centres if stock is too close to its expiry.
The wholesaler is seeking to improve its “fresh” offering to shoppers.
Both Woolworths and Coles are similarly upping their game when it comes to ensuring groceries on the shelf are as fresh as possible, investing in their own supply chain and logistics to quicken the pace produce gets from the farm to the supermarket aisles.
Aldi is also chasing shoppers eager to buy the freshest fruit, vegetables and other groceries with the meat deli, dairy fridge and fruit and vegetables aisles a key battleground in the $90 billion supermarket sector.
In a letter sent to suppliers by Metcash’s general manager for merchandise, Andrew Clark, and obtained by The Australian, the grocery wholesaler has set out a new shelf-life policy for its suppliers to limit the deliveries of close to expiry.
This will include the possibility of deliveries being rejected if they fail to meet the guidelines on the storage of groceries with limited shelf life in its warehouses and distribution centres.
“A recent internal audit of one of our supply chain processes has revealed an unacceptable frequency of deliveries arriving at Metcash distribution centres with more shelf life on products than the maximum shelf life dates submitted … less life on products than the receiving limit, less life than previous deliveries for the same products,’’ Mr Clark wrote to suppliers.
Metcash sells groceries to more than 2000 independent ­supermarkets under banners such as IGA and Foodland.
Mr Clark said the consequences of the shelf-life issues rippled all the way from distribution centres to the supermarket shelves.
This included additional costs in the network, management ­effort to rectify perishable stock problems and stale or out-of-date food being sold or consumed that affects repurchase behaviour and brand equity.
Metcash executive general manager for supermarkets, Algy Pereira, said the focus on its supply chain was key to it offering the freshest groceries for its wholesale customers as well as getting consistency across all its categories.
“The basket penetration of fresh is growing, the health connotations are growing, and when you look at your fresh foods or the health category in groceries they are all in double digit growth,’’ Mr Pereira said.
“So for us to win in that space we have to get fresh right.”