Orkla Foods drops Interbrands for Whiteland

Foods producer Orkla Foods has announced that it has struck a deal with distributor Whiteland and will drop Interbrands after a four-year partnership, in order to make its operations more efficient. “Refrigerated products require a complex and costly logistics infrastructure. Synergy is the key to making a distribution system efficient and considering our and Interbrands’ short and medium-term strategy, we agreed to end the partnership,” stated Manuela Banu, chief executive of Orkla Foods Romania. Under the new contract, the producer will have its entire retail product range distributed by Whiteland Import Export, a company specialised in the distribution of controlled temperature products. About half of Orkla Foods business in Romania comes from the sales of margarine, a product that requires controlled temperature distribution and storage. When contacted by ZF, the general manger of Interbrands Marketing & Distribution, Rand Sheriff explained that Orkla Foods products accounted for approximately 1% of the turnover of his company last year. Interbrands is the biggest distributor of consumer goods on the domestic market, and posted turnover worth over billion euros at the end of 2007.