In a first for retail in South Africa, the Shoprite Group has acquired over 100 of the most fuel-efficient trucks in Southern Africa. The Scania Euro V trucks have a proven fuel saving of around 10% along with lower CO2 and NOx emissions.
The Group’s world-class supply chain – which includes 29 distribution centres covering 673 843m2 – provides it with a competitive advantage in the retail industry to consistently deliver on its business promise of everyday low prices.
Key to its supply chain is a highly sophisticated transport route planning and scheduling system which optimises energy efficiency and deliveries to the Group’s stores.
During the 2020/2021 financial year, the Group’s fleet travelled close to 90 million km and delivered more than 350 million cases of products to its stores.
“Operational and supply chain efficiency play a critical role in ensuring that the Group remains Africa’s most affordable and accessible retailer while reducing our environmental impact. We are relentless in our efforts to improve efficiencies in our supply chain as these measures are key to extending our customers’ spending abilities,” explains Andrew Havinga, Chief Supply Chain Officer for the Group.
These efforts include changing to more fuel-efficient trucks and installing solar PV on trailers, as these trucks can be switched off while the refrigeration and tailgate lift continue to run on solar power.
“By further increasing the energy efficiency of our trucks and training our drivers on how to reduce fuel consumption, we are able to lower the comparative impact of the distance our fleet travels every year,” Havinga continues.
The Group’s fleet currently includes 903 trucks and 1 360 trailers, of which 928 are fitted with solar panels, and it will be growing its fleet of fuel-efficient Euro V trucks annually with an additional 140 units planned by the end of 2023.
