Fashion retailer Varner is growing with increased production volumes and an opening of new stores. To keep expanding but still remain close to the market, they needed a reliable and sustainable freight solution with high capacity. Here is an insight into the customised solution that Greencarrier Freight Services created for Varner, enabling a smooth and more sustainable transport of their fashion goods.

Varner – one of Scandinavia’s leading textile companies

Founded in Oslo as a privately owned family business in 1962, Varner is today one of Scandinavia’s leading textile companies. Dressman, Cubus, Volt and A-Z are a few of their concepts. As a result of the continued establishment of new chains and stores, Varner has become increasingly international and is now present in eight countries with a total of 1500 stores.

The textile industry requires reliable and sustainable shipping of goods

Fashion is constantly changing at a fast pace and a company of Varner’s size and growth has to keep up with these changes to stay close to the market. It is essential for them to be able to deliver products quickly and regularly to the stores. To manage further expansion, Varner needed a freight solution with high capacity and short shipping time that was both reliable, flexible and sustainable.

“Varner is a value driven company that is always aiming to do responsible and sustainable businesses. Being a part of the textile industry means we have a responsibility towards the environment and we strive to minimize the environmental impact of our products throughout their whole life-cycle. An important part of this is to transport the products in a more sustainable way”, says Andreas Johansson, Customs & Import Manager at Varner.

Intermodal transport by using the combination of road, sea and rail freight

The procurement for transporting Varner’s goods from Turkey to Varner’s central warehouse in Vänersborg, Sweden, was initiated in December 2016. In February 2017, Greencarrier Freight Services was awarded the contract. The freight solution that Greencarrier Freight Services created combines transportation by road, sea and railway, using their respective benefits. In short, this is how it works; trailers are loaded with the goods in Istanbul and are driven to a port nearby. We then put the trailers on a vessel shipping them to Trieste, Italy. Here, the trailers are unloaded and moved to railway wagons for transportation to Kiel, Germany. Another ferry carries the trailers to Gothenburg, Sweden. The last way to Varner’s central warehouse in Vänersborg is done by road.