Imperial Sasfin Logistics has been awarded a significant contract to provide 4PL (fourth party logistics services) to Nando’s. This partnership will see Imperial supplying Nando’s bastings, sauces, spices, marinades and packaging to Nando’s restaurants and licensed markets in 14 countries, reveals Imperial Logistics chief strategy officer Cobus Rossouw. “Nando’s previously provided its own supplier and logistics service for the restaurant-use products that are supplied to all the Nando’s franchises and certain corporate markets. Through our new partnership, Imperial will now act as the order taker and consolidator from franchise and certain corporate markets as well as the order placer on South African based suppliers, and thereafter the receiver and title owner of goods ordered,” he explains. “These goods will then be on-sold and delivered to the respective Nando’s markets by Imperial.” Rossouw says that 208 SKUs (stock keeping units) will be procured from 29 local suppliers. The company will manage an average of 600 pallets of Nando’s product per month, moving it through Imperial storage and distribution facilities into the international market, he notes. “By outsourcing these services to Imperial, Nando’s can focus purely on its objective of providing the best flame grilled peri peri chicken ever tasted to a growing global market,” Rossouw stresses. Expanding Imperial’s tailored solution for Nando’s, he says that the services that will be provided include purchase order management; inbound transport facilitation and management; warehousing, inventory management, shelf-life management, picking, consolidation and container stuffing for export. Export management - including customs compliance, clearance and forwarding control to relevant international markets - will also be provided. “Imperial’s global network will be leveraged, as well as our logistics control towers, to provide Nando’s with a seamless, end-to-end service, with unrivalled supply chain transparency,” he stresses. Imperial’s information technology systems, which include a live, user friendly, secure portal, will further enhance this visibility, he notes. “This portal offers, among other benefits, order placement, purchase order and fulfilment status up to SKU (stock keeping unit) level and stock on hand visibility to SKU level, including product attributes such as shelf life details. Full life cycle shipment tracking includes access to all relevant documents such as commercial invoices, packing lists and customs forms,” he adds. Nando’s and Imperial’s common values and ambitions contributed to this contract win, Rossouw asserts. “Our companies share a relentless pursuit of excellence. We expect our partnership with Nando’s to grow from strength to strength and increase in mutual value based on our continuous improvement programme,” he concludes. Future projects in the pipeline include a venture that Imperial is currently working on with Nando’s web design and store development team, to take African art, décor and furniture to the Nando’s world around the globe. Imperial Sasfin Logistics is a joint venture company that merges the vast logistics infrastructure of the Imperial group and the trade finance and forex infrastructure of Sasfin Bank Ltd. It offers end to end import and export solutions, from point of origin to final destination, and covering freight forwarding, customs clearing, warehousing, transport and distribution, as well as payment and financing.