Willie O’Byrne, managing director of retail and wholesale group BWG Foods, has won the Leader Award at the 2020 Logistics & Transport Awards.
The awards took place this afternoon as a live digital and fully interactive broadcast.
O’Byrne represents the first winner of the Logistics and Transport Leader Award from a grocery retail, FMCG or wholesale company.
Previous winners of the award include Pamela Quinn, managing director of Kuehne + Nagel and John Tuohy, founder of Nightline.
Commenting on the award win, O’Byrne said: “I would like to thank the Irish Logistics and Transport Association for this great honour."
"I accept it only on behalf of the teams I have been a part of, or led, over the years. This is their recognition; none more deserving than our exceptional Logistics and Transport professionals in BWG Foods to whom I dedicate this award," he said.
Logistics Operations
BWG Foods operates one of the country’s largest logistics operations that serve its network of over 1,000 Spar, Eurospar, Mace, Londis, and XL stores.
The group also serves 14,000 B2B customers through its wholesale division that includes BWG Foodservice, Corrib Food Products, Heaney Meats and a nationwide network of 22 Value Centre and Cash and Carry branches.
As part of its nationwide logistics operation, BWG Foods operates a 240,000 square foot National Distribution Centre situated in Kilcarbery in County Dublin, with one of the largest delivery fleets in the country that extends to approximately 120 vehicles.
"I am personally extremely proud of the commitment our logistics team has shown over the past nine months in meeting the demands of our retail partners and wholesale customers while overcoming the myriad of operational and personal challenges wrought by this pandemic,” O’Byrne added.
'Pioneering Sustainability Initiatives'
BWG Foods noted that has invested heavily in pioneering sustainability initiatives to reduce the carbon intensity of its transport fleet.
Last year, BWG Foods highlighted that it became the first FMCG company in the country to launch a fleet of CNG (compressed natural gas) vehicles.
This year, BWG Foods said that it has added three vehicles run entirely on Biogas produced from food waste donated by BWG Foods, along with its first fully electric-powered delivery vehicle, all combining to make it the cleanest HGV fleet in Ireland.
Other Accolades
BWG Foods also took home the Client & Supplier Collaboration Award for its partnership with Coll-8 which allows consumers to pick up and return e-commerce purchases from Spar, Eurospar, Mace, Londis and XL stores nationwide.
BWG Foods was also shortlisted for the Excellence in Warehousing and Logistics & Transport Team of the Year awards.
© 2020 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
