Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

When I was a Saturday morning TV addict in UK the must-watch show was ITV’s TISWAS which featured the thigh booted Sally James and I think there were some other presenters. The alternative offering was the much posher and less anarchic Swap Shop on…

You will have to bear with me on this one. Do you know that on average 85% of expectant women suffer food cravings during pregnancy? Apparently, the top 5 are: Pickles 5% - yuk, that surprised me too. Cheese 11% - get those calories in. Crisps/chips…

We took a weekend break in Prague recently. I have been there before but only saw the inside of a taxi, a hotel and a soap factory that also makes margarine so this was a real tourism opportunity with the family. These days I do actually relax on…

What supply chains are meant to do has been very well documented but source, plan, make deliver disciplines are the core activities. Add in a potential warehousing and logistics role and if the company is forward thinking, a customer logistics role…

In my local supermarket over the weekend I noticed something I had not seen or perhaps not noticed before. On the shelf I was expecting to relieve of my weekend beer was a propped up sign saying “We are sorry your choice is not available. We are…

Do you find yellow dog biscuits stuffed in your window frames? Well, I’d expect such occurrences to be as rare as a squirrel with a nut allergy but I find it all the time. The house in Romania has mosquito nets on the windows as the summers are…

Out of stocks? Excellent news and a huge relief for all! A celebration party or at least a few drinks would be the next immediate priority but only after a bath or shower. Being sentenced to the stocks in medieval times was a very public humiliation…

In my D&E career I have lived and worked in many different countries on all continents except the Australia/New Zealand bits. Oh, and the North/South Poles of course – not a lot of demand for FMCG there, yet. There is one recurring theme that seems…

A word that strikes fear into even the most hardened FMCG/Brewing/Pharmaceutical business professionals. A similar reaction occurs when heard in the context of family discussions about investments, celebrations and holidays. Can you guess the word…

People who work in fast food outlets – I really cannot label them as restaurants – must have specific training in dealing with non-standard orders. Can you imagine the temptation to groan when in a crowded outlet someone asks for a Muck Chicken…

The recent high profile cases of horsemeat DNA appearing in products marked as beef and other meats have generated a fair amount of humour but they also place great strain on FMCG Supply Chains. Thousands of Supply Chain professionals around the…

“After eating what he thought was a beef burger at a Shergar King outlet my friend was taken to a private hospital where he is now in a stable condition. While he has recovered well he has been saddled with an expensive invoice for medical services.…

It is a pleasure to introduce our guest blogger Stefan Cucu, who is an experienced tri-lingual (Romanian/English/French) supply chain consultant. His 20+ years experience include a wide variety of supply chain operational roles with blue-chip FMCG…

Nearly the year end. Have you started planning for that party? Are the presents all sorted out? Cards ready before the final posting date? No, I thought not. All the fuss will be over before you know it and then January will see the usual raft of…

Senior Management has again flown off to UK to visit the heiress and attempt to single-handedly bring the UK retail economy out of recession. Look out for a blip in Birmingham when the Q4 figures are released as the plastic is in for vigorous…