IPP has been supplying sustainable wooden pallets to UK grower Moulton Bulb since 2008, but only in recent years have volumes soared to 120,000 pallets a year
Coventry-based pallet pooler IPP and Lincolnshire grower Moulton Bulb have seen their partnership double in size over the last five years, with yearly volumes increasing from 60,000 pallets in 2021 to around 120,000 pallets today, as business with new and existing retailers grows.
Family-run Moulton Bulb has been packing onions for more than 40 years and supplies around 25 per cent of all UK supermarket onions for the likes of Waitrose, Aldi and the Co-op. The BRC AA+ certified business grows, imports, packs and processes its produce, offering complete transparency of the supply chain from seed to store.
IPP has been supplying sustainable wooden pallets to the company since 2008. Its role, according to Demi Crabbe, commercial director at IPP UK&I, is to ensure Moulton Bulb’s products reach their customers reliably and in perfect condition, on pallets that are repaired, reused and recycled as part of the circular economy.
“Our relationship with Moulton Bulb is built on trust and is much more of a partnership,” she said. “We understand Moulton Bulb’s processes and help keep everything running smoothly in its supply chain by being easy to work with, proactive and providing a consistently high level of service.
“They know that if there’s a problem, we can fix it. They know they can pick up the phone to us whenever they need support.”
For its part, Moulton Bulb is looking to expand in its key markets and add new retail customers to its roster.
“We pack around 1,600-1,700 tonnes a week for a range of supermarket retailers, so we’ve grown considerably over the years we’ve been working with IPP,” said director Robert Oldershaw. “We also process produce on this site, and we’re using IPP pallets for our processed customers too.”
He puts the success of the relationship down to simplicity. “Pallets are, in many ways, a commodity product – you simply need them to work,” he said. “The simpler the process, the better. Our relationship with IPP just flows in the background and works seamlessly.”
