DSV provides road transport for a small coffee and tea importer in the Netherlands
A small but growing organisation with only limited knowledge of logistics needs a provider to embrace it and nurture it.
DSV’s service quality, transparency and flexibility were what Portioli Caffé Nederland was looking for.
Portioli Caffè Nederland, set up by restaurateur Elias Grigoriou in 2011, is the Dutch distributor for the Italian brand of the same name as well as the Silkenty brand of tea from Sri Lanka. The company also distributes GIME coffee machines in the Netherlands.
The products can be bought separately or as part of a total coffee and tea solution. The primary purchasers are restaurants, hotels and cafés.
Road, air and sea transport for coffee and tea
All the coffee products are imported by road from Italy. Tea is imported from Sri Lanka using sea and air freight.
As we’re small and focus on fresh products, we have a number of logistical challenges. It’s important to keep our warehouse stock levels low – that keeps products fresh and capital outlay low too.
Elias Grigoriou, Restaurateur
The low stock levels are a challenge when a large order comes in unexpectedly. It used to be our buyer who arranged shipment to the Netherlands for us. That meant we had no influence on the transport, and things often went wrong explains Avinandha Ramsoedh, Office Manager and Responsible for Transport at Portioli Caffè Nederland.
Importing tea from Sri Lanka has its challenges too. "The tea only gets produced to order. As we don’t want to store in bulk, because tea needs to be fresh, sometimes up to three months can go by between order and delivery," adds Ramsoedh.
"I’m responsible for transport, but not an expert, and transport quotes are a complex area,", says Ramsoedh.
Taking logistics service and operations to the next level
In 2014, the company decided to re-assess its logistics. "We wanted to manage the transport from Italy ourselves and so we looked for a supplier that could help. Our previous supplier’s service wasn’t good. You got the feeling that they didn’t take small companies seriously. I searched for a new supplier on the Internet and found DSV," says Ramsoedh.
“We’ve been using DSV for a while now and service has taken quite a leap forward. We only deal with one customer service team so the number of people you speak to is limited."
“Operations have also seen a quantum leap since the switch to DSV. Our warehouse is in the centre of Utrecht with lots of narrow streets, so it was difficult to get a big truck in. DSV solved this with no fuss with a smaller truck," says Ramsoedh.
Patrick van Ulft, Commercial Manager at DSV Road, knows how to make small and medium-sized companies such as Portioli Caffé Nederland and its buyers happy: "Thanks to the open, direct contact with our customer, we can learn how to continuously improve our service."
About Portioli Caffè
Portioli Caffè Nederland is the Dutch importer of Portioli coffee. In 1958, Giorgio Portioli bought a tasting-bar in Via Eustachi in Milan, where he started using a roasting machine to produce and sell high-quality coffee blends. The success led him to sell his blends to other bars and cafés in Italy. In 1989, Prortioli Caffè moved to a larger headquarters on the outskirts of Milan and started exporting worldwide. Learn more at www.portioli.nl
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