Driving Efficiency, Cutting Emissions: How Constellation and Bidfood are Redefining Cold Chain Logistics

In today’s food supply chain, efficiency is no longer just a cost-saving measure – it’s a climate imperative. That’s why Constellation Cold Logistics is investing in smarter logistics, sustainable infrastructure, and deep customer partnerships that unlock environmental and commercial benefits.

Our collaboration with Bidfood, one of the UK’s leading foodservice providers, is a blueprint for what this looks like in action. By designing a tailored consolidation scheme and integrating live data into our delivery cycle, we’ve dramatically reduced emissions and improved vehicle utilisation – all while ensuring Bidfood’s network of depots gets what it needs, when it needs it.

Here’s how our partnership is making a measurable difference – and setting a new benchmark for the cold chain industry.

One Facility, Hundreds of SKUs

At the centre of our collaboration is our Wolverhampton cold storage facility, where we manage over 1,200 stock-keeping units (SKUs) on behalf of Bidfood and over 120+ of its suppliers. From here, Bidfood places orders based on stock requirements and forecasted demand. Constellation then consolidates multiple product lines onto shared pallets, preparing them for distribution to over 20 of Bidfood’s  UK depots.

This process enables us to maximise the space in every vehicle, loading more pallets per journey and reducing the number of trips required. In 2024 alone, this scheme eliminated 636 delivery journeys, saving an estimated 92,000 kilometres of travel and cutting CO₂ emissions by approximately 56,000 tonnes.

Smarter Ordering and Delivery

The strength of this partnership lies not just in logistics, but in real-time collaboration. When Bidfood places an order, Constellation’s systems instantly calculate how efficiently that order can be loaded, allowing Bidfood to make agile decisions that prioritise either load fill or delivery speed.

This responsiveness is where our shared commitment to sustainability comes to life. Over the course of 2024, average load fill increased from 20.3 pallets per vehicle in January to 25.2 by December – saving 22 journeys per week by year-end.

Together, we’re not just meeting targets – we’re continuously raising the bar.

Eliminating Empty Miles

To make every journey count, we’ve introduced a backhauling initiative. When Constellation vehicles deliver to Bidfood depots, they don’t return empty – instead, they collect new stock from nearby suppliers on the return trip to Wolverhampton.

This coordinated approach reduces empty vehicle miles and further lowers carbon emissions. It’s a simple change with a big impact, reinforcing how partnership and planning can drive sustainability.

A Model Built for Scale

The success of the Bidfood partnership has already inspired Constellation’s 2025 goals: increase average load fill to 26 pallets per vehicle, and reduce food miles further by collaborating with Bidfood’s new forecasting systems to cut down inter-depot transfers.

Beyond Bidfood, the principles of this scheme – strategic consolidation, integrated ordering, backhauling, and emissions-focused planning – are ready to scale across our broader network.

Our wider sustainability roadmap includes major investments in low-emission vehicles and refrigeration systems. In 2024, we invested €350,000 in 20 new hydraulic generators, reducing refrigeration diesel use by 80–90%. We’re also preparing to introduce electric vehicles to our UK fleet, following successful trials in Norway.

The Future is Collaborative

Constellation Cold Logistics believes the future of the cold chain depends on collaboration, not competition. Our partnership with Bidfood proves what’s possible when two organisations align on efficiency, transparency, and sustainability.

Together, we’ve created a system that not only serves today’s needs – but helps build a greener, more resilient cold chain for tomorrow.

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