Bidfresh are part of the South African, Bidcorp Group of companies. Bidfresh was formed in 2012 through the acquisition of Seafood Holdings and has subsequently grown in the UK through the acquisition of multiple businesses that specialise in seafood, meat and fresh produce.
They now have a UK-wide network of companies that serve both national and local customers from a large network of depots and a fleet of hundreds of delivery vehicles.
The Podfather solution deployed at Bidfresh incorporates an API for them to upload delivery job details from the multiple ERP systems used across their businesses. These specify in Podfather which business the customer order needs to be delivered from, the delivery customer site, date/time windows and order details. The Podfather route management system helps to calculate the customer ETA of each order and sends email notifications with 1-hour delivery windows. All customer notifications are branded to reflect the Bidfresh business unit making the delivery.
GPS driver tracking and electronic proof of delivery are also included in the solution, with drivers using Samsung and Motorola smartphones rather than expensive, rugged devices.
Paul Arman, IT Director of Bidfresh, comments, “We trialled the Podfather system at with one of our businesses last year. All staff found it to be very reliable and easy to use so it was an easy decision to commit to a full nationwide roll.”
“The system frees up office time that was otherwise being spent answering delivery time inquiries. Customers now receive live tracking emails, along with the POD emailed to them, as soon as the delivery is made. It all saves time and gives a better service which, when dealing with busy restaurants is important.”
Colin McCreadie, Managing Director of Podfather, said, “Bidfresh are an impressive group of companies, all of whom are experts in their specialist field of food service. We’re proud to be working with them and look forward to supporting their business as they focus on continued growth.”
