Saving £1m by giving pastry longer shelf life
Saving an important customer £1m over the space of a year was a real sweet spot for our Customer Innovation team, after putting to work great products and innovative thinking.
A high-profile baker had approached us with a problem. A popular sweet baked product, stocked throughout the UK by its retail customer, had a shelf life of three days before its pastry became too soft. For the retailer this meant products going to waste when they were not bought in time. Meanwhile, the baker was working six days a week to keep putting fresh stock on the shelves.
Our Customer Innovation team joined forces with our customer’s specialists to co-develop a solution. They trialled several different fat combinations, eventually reaching a solution with a new product – Akobake 122.
The result? Two additional days’ shelf life for the product, reduced labour costs for the baker and reduced waste for the retailer. And, ultimately, the consumer could enjoy crispier, firmer pastry.
Over a 12-month period the customer has saved around £1million in labour, production and waste costs, as well as potentially strengthening their relationship with their own customer.
For us the results have been just as rewarding, with the addition of a new product to our range of value-adding solutions and, best of all, earning our customer’s trust by helping to fulfil their ambitions.
This was a great example of our co-development approach at work. It pooled our knowledge, skills and capabilities to help meet our customer’s challenge and truly add value to products.