BIFA Awards
Serving challenging markets
2015, and since refined and transferred to meet commercial needs in challenging environments.” In 2007, Seafast embarked upon a journey to specialise in cold chain by investing in temperature- controlled facilities (TCFs). In July 2009, Seafast opened the first port-centric TCF in the port of Felixstowe. At just 5,000 sq ft, its scale was modest and did not allow for storage of product. Halliday elaborated: “Our key USP was being able to reduce road miles by devanning import reefer containers in the port, and cross- docking into temperature- controlled trailers through the Felixstowe TCF. This also had the positive impact of significantly reducing demurrage and detention costs as well as inland distribution costs.” Meeting demand Seafast persevered with this model until customer demand for space and services for frozen products was met by the opening of a 100,000 sq ft, 20 m tall modern frozen chamber within the 750,000 sq ft mega distribution centre constructed by its now parent company, Uniserve, in Felixstowe. Seafast is now able to offer storage and other value-added services to customers within the original port- centric model. This expertise is transferable geographically. It is the reason why Seafast is focused on territories where cold chain assets are in short supply, but demand exists to prevent fresh products going to waste before their arrival into market. Rwanda is the prime area where Seafast is looking to invest in assets such as temperature- controlled trucks, as well as potentially pack-house and storage facilities, either independently or in close collaboration with government and other privately owned enterprises. Halliday acknowledged: “Africa is definitely a marathon, not a sprint, so one needs to have belief and determination to turn a vision into reality.”
T he Seafast business model has two distinct areas of specialisation. First, refrigerated cargoes (predominantly frozen products including poultry from Asia and seafood from the South Atlantic). Second, the provision of logistics services in regions that ceo David J Halliday described as “de fi ned by geography, in remote, dif fi cult-to- serve and emerging markets”. Dearth of logistics For example, Seafast identified East Africa as a region where GDP growth rates in a number of countries are amongst the highest and fastest anywhere in the world, but which lacks the end-to-end logistics solutions needed to help the agriculture and horticulture sectors expand into overseas markets. For this reason, just ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, Seafast established a joint venture with longstanding and trusted Kenyan partners. Located in Rwanda, the company is focused on an integrated cold chain solution to When setting up Seafast Logistics, Seafast Group CEO David J Halliday was determined to differentiate the company. Over 20 years since its creation, Seafast has certainly achieved that – and its unique business model won the company the 2023 BIFA Specialist Services Award
support exports of products such as fresh cut flowers and green beans. Halliday went on to explain that for the past decade Seafast has been delivering new 4x4 vehicles to the UN and other humanitarian and aid entities in difficult-to-reach territories, including South Sudan, Kurdistan (Iraq) and Afghanistan. “The keys to success in delivering cost-effective and sustainable logistics solutions are first, understanding where customers are encountering problems and uncontrolled expenses, and then designing bespoke solutions to overcome such issues,” Halliday said. “This is a skillset which has been developed over almost 20 years, dating back to a decade of support for ISAF Nations involved in Afghanistan between 2005 and
“ Our key USP was being able to reduce road miles – David J Halliday, Seafast
Specialist Services Award
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16 | October 2024
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