is a B2B pooling company specializing in supporting customers with the management of plastic pallets and IBC requirements for liquid and dry bulk applications.Founded ten years ago in Belgium, Contraload currently services over 2,500 companies across Europe, from Spain to Denmark and from Poland to the UK. It also has liquid IBCs customers in Sri-Lanka, Ghana, Costa Rica and across the world, serviced from the company’s offices in Antwerp, Birmingham and Toulouse. Contraload’s pool-size comprises almost 700,000 assets and it works with 15 conditioning partners all over Europe.
Different Approach
“Our thinking is a bit different from standard pooling companies,” points out Andrew Wilson, European Business Development Director of Contraload. “We think from the problem at the customer to a realistic solution, we are not ‘just’ pushing our products and services into the market. Our market survey has shown that this approach is appreciated by our customers in Europe and the UK.”
He continues: “Everybody can buy a plastic pallet or IBC and send it to a customer, but to understand the full supply chain, find the best asset for the job, control the flows, manage the assets, and to service every party in the supply chain, whilst reducingcosts, requires a professional dedicated team of experts. We are working hard every day and having fun to become this team for our customers!”
Being a market-led company, Contraload has developed its products and services to meet changing customer needs such as the demand for improved hygiene and for larger containers, and the switch from drums to 1000 litre IBCs, and from IBCs to flexitanks or Isotanks. Contraload has also been at the forefront in the move away from one-way packaging to reusable bins to reduce carbon footprint without increasing cost.
Contraload has invested heavily in the development of improved IBCs and pooling services to tailor its services to different customer requirements. Its Orca Container, N55 drum and upcoming new products are typically light weight IBCs and pallets, durable, hygienic and low cost for transporting liquids, as well as dry goods, more efficiently.
Way Forward
“With double-digit growth figures year after year, we are proving that pooling, based on real customer needs, is the way forward,” says Andrew Wilson. “We also strive to be the greenest pooling company in the world and have just received the ‘Lean&Green’ award in the Benelux, proving we are on the right track and can save CO2 for our customers as well as internally.”
Contraload has developed systems specifically for the food and drink industry. For example, within the butter and fats sector, Contraload has dramatically reduced the carbon footprint, high contamination risk and labour intensity of the conventional transportation method whereby 20 litre cardboard boxes of the hardened product were stacked on a pallet and shipped to customers, who then had to open each carton before heating and liquefying the product.
By using Contraload’s 1000 litre bulk packaging Orca Container, the receiving company simply places the Orca on a specially designed HEAT-IT plate where, after a very limited time, the unloader directly unloads the 1000 litres of liquid butter. After emptying, Contraload collects the Orca Container for inspection, cleaning, refurbishing and re-use.
New Development
Contraload’s ‘semi-pooling’ business is regarded as a true new development in the market-place. Contraload has its roots in 100% reusable, durable and high quality assets, where the company offers a full trip system, including cleaning and replacement of broken parts.
“We have developed a service and IBCs for longer distances, which are seen as both a pooling and 1-way trip packaging solution, depending on the circuit it is used in, and this competes with other types of packaging such as metal drums, cardboard bins, wooden bins and plastic containers,” explains Andrew Wilson. “We strongly believe that there is a new ‘Blue Ocean’ in our market for IBCs that are fully or partly reusable, but which can also be used as a single trip solution without a financial hangover.”
