Move Fresh is a third-party logistics provider and direct-to-consumer fulfilment expert for the food and drink industry, and has partnered with DHL since 2010. Ewan Reid, Managing Director at Move Fresh, describes how technology forms the foundation of exceptional deliveries.

Move Fresh was founded by two technology and food entrepreneurs, and Ewan says that this continued focus on tech remains essential to the brand:

Move Fresh are the 3PL of choice for many medium and larger-sized brands. “They work with us because of flexibility and access to technology,” explains Ewan. Integrations between Move Fresh and DHL provide a great value-added service for their clients. “We take tracking numbers from DHL and link those through an API into our warehousing system and then into customers’ e-commerce stores, so clients can access tracking information on their own native platform.”

The DHL API has enabled Move Fresh to craft other collaborative delivery innovations. “We’ve created a service through the DHL API to help us managed chilled and frozen services, in terms of routing priority. So if there are any service issues, we can do automatic upgrades for instance.”

For Move Fresh’s customers, Ewan says: “Information sharing and transparency are essential. Beyond that, quality of service is definitely top of the agenda.”

Move Fresh also see sustainability innovation as a key area of focus.

“We’re looking at our own carbon reduction opportunities, and have been liaising with DHL. We’re excited at some of the strategic plans DHL have for moving to greener deliveries over time. We appreciate it's a big investment for them, but we're looking forward to being part of that journey.”

The vast majority of Move Fresh’s orders are dispatched same-day, and delivered using DHL’s next-day and timed next-day services.

"Next-day is critical,” says Ewan. “Accelerated by COVID, the customer expectation driven by retailers like Amazon is to look at next-day logistics.”

“DHL are very reliable: we have very few issues and they consistently meet SLAs. Challenges don’t just happen operationally with couriers, but also with the tech integrations. And DHL have a very stable technology platform too.”

The tracking available with DHL eCommerce UK’s next-day services is critical to Move Fresh and their customers. Ewan says that “having visibility of your delivery, and surety that that it will be delivered on time, is incredibly important.”

"We have a really solid relationship with the local depot,” says Ewan. “And we have a key account manager who does a fantastic job of championing our business. They come and visit us to try and better understand our business and what we need.”

“And for deliveries, having consistent drivers with local knowledge that understand where is convenient to drop-off for our B2B clients, is invaluable.”

Move Fresh have two peak periods: the typical run-up to Christmas, and also in January for their diet brand clients. During this time, DHL eCommerce UK’s flexibility is essential. Ewan explains:

“DHL are proactive. We've just onboarded a large beer client, and the discussions with DHL have been around what the maximum peak will be, how they can accommodate that through the network, and how they can help us in terms of scheduling uploads throughout the day.”

“Last Christmas, there were some couriers that really suffered reputationally and operationally. DHL are very much in a different space. They’re a carrier that we and our clients are happy to stand behind in terms of quality.”

Move Fresh are seeing strong feedback from customers who have moved over from other carriers. “Part of the reason for coming to us is that we have a strong relationship with DHL and they're buying into that,” says Ewan. “The feedback has been a really positive in terms of service delivery, reduction in damages, and information transparency.”

Would Move Fresh recommend DHL eCommerce UK? “Yes, we would,” agrees Ewan. “For their innovation, quality and value.”