Teamwork in the chocolate industry

Van den Bosch works with the biggest global players in the chocolate industry. It's a challenging sector that offers scope for us to stand out.

When it comes to chocolate, there’s more than meets the eye. The average consumer probably wouldn't realise there's an enormous amount of work to be done before a bar of chocolate finally hits the shelves. Transporting raw materials for the chocolate industry is high-tech, says Beata Koch, one of our commercial managers who has been working with one of the big players in the market for years. “This sector can be demanding. This means getting the job done can be challenging”,  Koch says. "But this mindset leads to great solutions. For example, we have developed a system with better insulated containers of which temperature can be read remotely. These are smart load units that allow us to work with great precision. Especially when it comes to chocolate, the temperature is essential."

Act at the right moment
Van den Bosch has long-term relationships with the biggest players in the market. In most cases, this connection goes far beyond a classic customer-client relationship. “We have colleagues at different locations who are on-site 24/7”, explains Operations Director division Dry Bulk Barry Gruijters. "This way our people become an important link in the supply chain. Because we permanently carry out on-site activities, there is actually no longer any delay. We can act at exactly the right moments. This way loading and unloading is done most efficiently. This eventually leads to higher productivity. Our customers in the chocolate industry are specialists in making chocolate products, but we are the experts in the supply chain. That's where we find each other. Working together like this really gives me energy."  

“It's our ambition to make things better tomorrow than we do today”

Relationship built on trust
Van den Bosch also supports the manufacturers on-site in the area of planning. “This also increases efficiency”, says Commercial Manager Juul Cramer. “Because everything is controlled locally by our people, we know exactly what is happening in the factory and what is needed. In doing so, we completely rely on each other." Looking for solutions is an ongoing process. "We are always looking for ways to carry out transport in the most efficient way. Product specifications as well as payload optimisation are very important in this respect. Sometimes we manage to increase the payload by about 20 to 25 percent. This leads to a significant reduction in the number of transports”, says Cramer. "Doing so, we also save CO2 emissions compared to traditional road transport," adds Koch.

Challenges offer opportunities
According to Gruijters, it goes without saying that food quality is of utmost importance for Van den Bosch. "When it comes to food quality, we go beyond what others are doing. For example, our dry bulk silos have up to 47 sealing points, whereas with other players only use two or three. We want to guarantee that something is hermetically sealed and as clean and dry as possible. It’s a challenging sector, but that also offers opportunities to distinguish ourselves. Ultimately, we do all this to ensure that our customer is successful. Because if they are, we are successful too. We have the combined goal to make things better tomorrow than we do today."