Oceania region: From freight forwarder to 3PL provider
In Australia and New Zealand around 180 employees focus on Food & Beverage.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the sailing ship "Gretchen Hartrodt" took 83 days to sail from Hamburg to Melbourne, and soon afterwards a. hartrodt became the leading freight forwarder for Australian shipments. Today, the transit time between Oceania and Europe is significantly shorter, and the family business offers a Food & Beverage focus in Australia and New Zealand with special expertise in wine exports. "We have developed from a sea and air freight forwarder into a 3PL logistics service provider with our own warehouses in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Auckland," summarizes Dirk Haarhaus, Regional Director Oceania at a. hartrodt in Sydney.
Regional challenges: Stink bugs and CargoWise One
The approximately 180 employees at seven locations are particularly challenged during the BMSB (brown marmorated stink bug) season. Starting September 1, 2024 until April 30, 2025, the Oceania team will again offer fumigation or heat treatment for sea freight imports. From mid-September, a. hartrodt will introduce CargoWise One with global standard processes in Australia and New Zealand. "The new freight forwarding software makes us more efficient and increases transparency for our customers," says Dirk Haarhaus.
New 11,000 square meter warehouse in Melbourne
A "huge task" lies ahead in Melbourne in October, when a. hartrodt merges two warehouses in its own new 11,000 square meter bonded warehouse. The 3PL provider has invested 25 million Australian dollars (the equivalent of almost 15 million euros) and will use barcode scanners for all pick & pack operations in the future, for example. "We pick up our own consolidated containers at the port, unload them at our warehouses and are therefore able to deliver shipments to our customers more quickly," says Dirk Haarhaus. Temperature consulting is available for wines, for example, which are transported flexibly to Europe or Asia in 20,000-liter flexitanks in sea containers or in bottles as air freight.
New air freight products will be developed with high priority. He also plans to expand the warehouse in Brisbane within two years. The regional sales team and network are also set to grow – if the shortage of skilled workers since the pandemic allows it.
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