Solved ice-cold: how a Polish ice cream manufacturer’s logistics problem just melted away

There are goods and products, which must transported under special conditions to ensure safe delivery. This applies to many groceries that require cooling, such as ice cream. The need to keep the delicious sweets fresh was not the only aspect that constituted this particular logistical challenge that the Polish branch office of the logistics company time:matters was faced with a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, it was in fact an order to transport ice cream, which was somewhat out of the ordinary - even though the special service provider for courier, sameday and emergency logistics is an expert that is used to dealing with unusual assignments.

What exactly happened? Before the start of the summer season, a Polish ice cream manufacturer arranged for the production of a TV commercial featuring its creamy product. Since summer had not yet arrived in Europe, the southern half of the globe, more precisely: sunny South Africa was selected as the filming location. Everything needed for the set was assembled there: actors, make-up artists, those responsible for camera and sound, even the necessary props were on site. With regards to the “star,” namely the ice cream, the supply was unfortunately very tightly calculated. Consequently, after several scenes were filmed and the commercial was still far from being completely “in the can”, the supply of ice cream started to run low.

For those responsible at the ice cream company, both in Poland and on site in South Africa, it was clear: given the enormous costs for the film crew and equipment, a fresh supply had to be organized as quickly as possible. And that is how time:matters came into play: the ice cream company’s headquarters commissioned their regular logistics specialist which in turn – given the extremely urgent nature of the shipment – called in the time:matters experts in Warsaw, whose core competence is also finding solutions for especially tricky logistics problems. The time:matters experts immediately developed a perfectly coordinated transport and delivery process for the Warsaw – Cape Town route. The transport of the ice cream, naturally in special cooling containers, started with a Lufthansa flight from Warsaw to Frankfurt, where the goods were reloaded onto the next available flight to Cape Town right away, under the personal supervision of the time:matters colleagues on site.

The express shipment reached the South African metropolis the next afternoon – a mere 22 hours following the departure in Warsaw and barely more than 24 hours after the logistics company that was commissioned by the ice cream manufacturer called in the time:matters branch office in Warsaw. Due to the quick transport, filming of the TV commercial was wrapped up without delay and it has been running on Polish TV for some time now, making ice cream fans’ mouths water. Of course no one suspects that the completion of the commercial, which appears to be super laid-back, airy and cheerfully light-hearted, was on the rocks for a time…...