The run-up to Brexit and the forthcoming winter holidays, together with the ongoing disruption caused by the pandemic, has had a disastrous impact on Felixstowe Port.
Hamodia spoke to senior management at Global Kosher, about a recent tough decision they had to make, due to the current climate at the Port.
As all transporters and shipping lines have experienced and described, the port seems to be “a nightmare” at the moment. In addition to the large number of containers which are arriving as companies stock up before the festive shopping season and many big companies trying to secure goods before BREXIT, as well COVID-caused backlog, the Government has been using the port as a holding depot for thousands of containers of PPE (personal protective equipment). Many of the staff are working remotely, which is not making the situation any easier.
Global Kosher imports specialist products in temperature-controlled containers. Although all shipping containers look like a large metal box, in fact some are fitted with a complex computer system, enabling the temperature to be monitored throughout the container’s journey. Recently due to an error in temperature programming, it resulted in one of Global Kosher’s containers losing temperature control for more than 14 hours, to the extent that the products inside defrosted, with most products losing their shape.
The tough decision of destroying the goods was made, in order to protect both suppliers and customers equally, as well as maintaining integrity of their brands and products.
In addition, Global Kosher’s health and safety policy required that this shipment to be correctly disposed of, by an appropriately qualified food stuff certifier, which was an additional cost the company had to cover!”
As per Global Kosher, “our consumer’s well-being is our number one priority”.
