Logistics and Supply Chain Management of British Sugar

This presentation discusses the logistics and supply chain management strategies of British Sugar, the sole British based sugar beet producer. It covers the challenges faced by the company, critical analysis of current performance, and comparison with competitor companies like Ragus, Silver Spoon, and Tate & Lyle Sugars. The presentation also provides expert recommendations for the company's future growth.

British Sugar
Logistics and Supply Chain Management

British Sugar
 Company inaugurated in 1936 under supervision of British parliament
 Subsidiary of “Associated British Foods”
 Sole British based sugar beet producer
 Processes more than eight million tonnes of sugar beet producing 1.4
million tonnes of sugar every year
 British Sugar grows the sugar beet in East Anglia and East Midlands
and they are sown at the spring
 Grows the sugar beet in East Anglia and East Midlands and they are
sown at the spring

Challenges faced by British
Sugar
 Vagaries arising from future trade agreement by Britain as a result of
departure of the UK from the EU
 WTO export constraints are no longer seen to be applicable for the
reforms applicable to the European producers
 Rising sugar prices due to increased tariff rates
 Third party vendors not agreeing to renew the contract for supplying
sugar in bulk quantity
 Overall reduction in the number of factories over the years

Challenges faced by British
Sugar
 Factories such as “Ely, Felsted, Nottingham and Selby” got closed
down due to reducing the overall quota for sugar
 The site at Allscott got also closed on near Telford, Shropshire due to
lack of scale to run economically
 Out of 18 factories run by British Sugar Corporation, only four were
able to still process beet
 Sutton Tanker not renewing the contract for bulk sugar products
 The initiation of Brexit will allow Britain to forge its own bilateral trade
agreement which will allow it to open up its own food market

Critical Analysis of current
performance
 Need for continuous efficiency for changes in the European Sugar
regime
 The continuous improvement process for the mixed funded research
and development brought by “British Beet Research Organisation
(BBRO)”
 Supplies almost 50% of UK’s total month for sugar
 Support 95,000 jobs in a wider economy
 Partnering with 3500 growers annually and several other forms of
business ranging from 6500 to 7000 businesses.

Critical Analysis of current
performance
 Introduce sustainability agricultural practices for knowing about the
important customers and growers
 Improvements evident with introduction of new varieties of seed, crop
storage technique, and agronomy advice
 Sugar beet considered as the main supply of British sugar which is in
compliance with UK legislation and recognized worldwide for “silver
level equivalence
 Collaborative approach with BBRO continues to increase their sugar
beet yield for the last 10 years which is evident with an increased by
25%

Logistics Strategies applied by
the company
 British Sugar has chosen Abbey logistics for managing its bulk sugar
movements across Great Britain
 The sugar transportation is able to include the bulk granulated sugar
tanks and liquid tankers
 Strategic location able to reduce mileage from the farm to processing
unit at factory
 Abbey regarded as private-equity funded by transport and logistics
which backed by other transportation and logistics companies
creating competitive advantages through the supply chain

Comparison of the strategies with the
competitor companies- Ragus
 Ragus is seen to adopt the strategy of producing sugar via
sustainable means
 Following supply chain with the strategy of Full truck load
 Produce any given volume of sugar above 2000 Kgs and deliver the
same across any part of the globe
 Using efficient process to include smart technology
 Supply artisan bakers and brew to across the globe for baking,
confectionery, drinks, brewing and pharmaceuticals

Comparison of the strategies with the
competitor companies- Silver Spoon
Company
 Known for being the number one supplier in UK retail sugar,
sweetener market and baking products
 Includes wide range of quality sugar over the years with the motto of
producing low calorie home baking products
 The range of sweetening choices offered by the company is discerned
with “Caster, Icing, Granulated and Fondant icing sugar”
 Combine the knowledge of sugar processing with the hope of
delivering enhanced service

Comparison of the strategies with the
competitor companies- Tate & Lyle Sugars
 Identified as Europe’s one of the leading suppliers of sugar and
sweetener products
 Supply of sugar and the sweetener products is leading in both bulk
and large pack formats
 Manufacturing product for the pharmaceutical industry
 The foodservice of the company is designed for catering the same
food as restaurants and cafes
 Selection of the rage of co-crystallised products, like “Qwik-Flo Honey
Granules” and Powder which are instantly soluble and has a free-
flowing characteristic with the increased efficiencies in handling of
the products

Recommendation
 Pre Brexit, company is allowed import sugar other than EU at the
subsidized rate with more than 50% to 60% of the produce
 Import sugar beet from other countries such as China, USA, Brazil,
Germany, Turkey, Singapore and France
 Increasing the percentage of sugar consumption from Tate & Lyle
Sugars, British sugar will be able to avoid the hefty tariff charges
 External challenges needs to be resolved by employing more labor
from countries such as China so that is able to reduce the increasing
cost which is a big concern

Thank You

References
 British Sugar. (2018). A globally competitive sugar processor | Processing.
[online] Available at: https://www.britishsugar.co.uk/about-sugar/processing
[Accessed 17 Feb. 2018].
 British Sugar. (2018). A snapshot of British Sugar from 1912 to today | Our
history. [online] Available at: https://www.britishsugar.co.uk/about-us/our-history
[Accessed 17 Feb. 2018].
 Clark, R., Clark, R., Massie, A., Tol, R., Forsyth, J., Forsyth, J., Clark, R. and Keiger,
J. (2017). What will Brexit mean for the UK’s sugar industry? | Coffee House.
[online] Coffee House. Available at: https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/12/what-
will-brexit-mean-for-the-uks-sugar-industry/ [Accessed 17 Feb. 2018].
 Coelho, L.C., Renaud, J. and Laporte, G., 2016. Road-based goods transportation:
a survey of real-world logistics applications from 2000 to 2015. INFOR:
Information Systems and Operational Research, 54(2), pp.79-96.