Flexibility in supply chains

Döhler, new IFFI member, is a global company trading in natural raw materials. In the Netherlands, it has locations in Breda, Oosterhout, and Roggel. Jan ten Have is Head of Operations Cluster Europe & MEA and oversees factories in Western Europe and Africa. “Climate change has a significant impact on our operations. It means we sometimes have to switch quickly to other supply chains. Fortunately, as a company, we’re flexible enough to respond to that.”

Döhler supplies natural flavour, fragrance, and colour ingredients for the food industry. “We’re particularly strong in the beverage industry. We’re a B2B supplier to all the well-known brands you see in the supermarkets. We’re involved from the very first step at the farmer’s level, processing fruit into juice, concentrate, or puree, but we also further process these raw materials into performance ingredients. Our products can enhance the colour, scent, flavour, texture, or mouthfeel of a product. In addition, they can contribute to health benefits.”

Biggest challenges
Climate change is a challenge for Döhler. “We see that innovation is happening faster with our customers. New products hit the shelves faster, but their lifespan is also shorter. That means we as suppliers must keep up. However, we’re part of long supply chains with our ingredients, depending on harvests and how the climate affects them. On the raw materials side, we see the effects of climate change on nature quite strongly, which leads to fluctuations in the quality, availability, and price of raw materials. We’re in a time when a single hailstorm can turn the global market upside down.” So, we face more risks there, while on the customer side, demand is becoming more fragmented and complex.” Ten Have gives an example: “Consumers might want to have low cost but fresh juice from far away, even though concentrate could have a much smaller CO2 footprint. Do we, as the food industry, go along with that desire, or should we educate the consumer instead?” Another challenge is the global political situation, which also impacts supply chains. “Volatility is increasing.”

Flexible supply chains
For the company, it’s essential to address these challenges. “During and after COVID, there were global issues with the supply of raw materials and products. One solution was to bring production to Europe. For some things, like pharmaceuticals, that’s wise. But for the food industry, it’s a different story. This industry is highly competitive. Bringing everything back isn’t economically viable, it takes too much time to build a good buffer in Europe, and customers don’t want to pay for that. The only way to handle these challenges is to be extremely flexible in your supply chain, for instance by rerouting certain pathways in our chains.”

Transparent chains
Döhler is logistically well positioned in the Netherlands, with Rotterdam and Antwerp as major fruit juice hubs. As a company, Döhler is becoming increasingly international. Ensuring flexibility in your supply chain sounds simple, but it’s quite challenging these days. “Customers not only want clean labels, but also traceability and transparency in supply chains. That creates a contradiction for us: sometimes we have to switch to another chain quickly, but at the same time, we have to be transparent. Achieving that transparency takes a lot of time and effort in data collection. It’s important to be able to show where everything comes from and what the product’s footprint is. On the back end, this is putting more and more pressure on our recipe data systems, which is why we’re investing heavily in digitalization, including through the use of Artificial Intelligence.”

Advantages
Ten Have has been in the food industry for quite some time. “This is a very interesting and enjoyable industry. I like to visit supermarkets, even when I’m on vacation abroad. It’s a relevant business; everyone has an opinion about food, has a connection with it, and is passionate about it. Food can help us become healthier, but the opposite is also true: you can get sick from food as well. It’s a dynamic field. Our country is doing well in a number of areas, like the efficiency of our agriculture. And Wageningen, where science is closely connected to business, is a big plus. As Döhler, we’re not specifically focused on the Netherlands, but through our membership in IFFI, we hope to expand our network and share knowledge.”

More info: www.doehler.com

Jan ten Have
Head of Operations Cluster Europe & MEA