Shopping-free Sundays - busy for logistics of fresh products

In their statements and publications on the ban on Sunday trading, experts and commentators most often draw attention to the economic aspects of the Act. The most frequently mentioned topics concern the drop in GDP or rising unemployment. It is forecast that the ban on Sunday trading may affect the consumption of goods such as electronics or clothing, but it will not reduce food consumption. In other words - we will buy the same amount of groceries, even if we have one day less per week to do the shopping. For an average Pole, the restriction of trade on Sundays imposed by the Act has a social dimension whereas for the logistics industry it has operational and business consequences.

What you have to do in 7 days, do in 6

Companies like Fresh Logistics Polska, which has been operating within the structure of Raben Group on the Polish market for 17 years and specializes in transport and storage of fresh products at controlled temperatures, face many challenges on a daily basis. Food producers are raising the bar higher and higher striving to meet the needs of the consumers. These, in turn, are looking for healthier, more natural food without preservatives, which at the same time should remain fit for consumption as long as possible (a perfect example here are mixed salads). In a logistic operation consisting in delivering fresh food so that it maintains high quality, the key factors are time and special transport conditions - maintaining the cold chain (appropriate temperature conditions) and constant focus on food safety.

For the logistics of fresh products, the ban on Sunday trading in practice means taking away one day from the standard cycle of logistics operations. Therefore, in the case of retail chains which previously received deliveries 7 days a week, now they have to be completed in 6 days. However, for retail chains which earlier received deliveries to distribution centres 6 days a week - from Monday to Saturday - food delivery operations have to be moved by one day and they have to executed from Sunday to Friday. Fresh food is no longer delivered to distribution centres of retail chains on Saturdays preceding shopping-free Sundays because it is not possible to distribute it, and thus - this food would lose an extremely important parameter, which is the best-before date.

The change to the delivery schedule is accompanied by the increased volumes delivered on Sundays. On that day, food is delivered to distribution centres, which is expected to be sold on Monday to ensure the continuity of the availability of products. Retailers expect that despite the increased purchases on Saturdays, shoppers will find all their goods on the shelves right after the weekend - and logistics operators have to adapt to this.

Logistics works so that trade can rest

Introduced almost a year ago, the Act also resulted in the need to obtain and engage increased human and equipment resources on Sundays. It is worth noting that on this day the said resources are not only more expensive - due to the increased labour costs - but also much less effectively used. On business days, after deliveries to distribution centres, the fleet is used to execute pick-ups from food producers, thanks to which operators significantly reduce the number of empty kilometres. Production plants don’t order pick-ups on Sundays because it is a day-off for them. As a result, the operators' trucks haul air after Sunday deliveries to distribution centres of retail chains, which is both uneconomical and non-ecological.

The social aspect of the Act, which the legislator emphasized, is also of great importance. Sundays without trade were to strengthen family ties and give Poles the opportunity to spend time with their loved ones. However, in the case of logistics of fresh products, as a result of shifting and intensifying the supply of fresh food on Sundays, the warehouse crews, drivers, dispatchers and other employees who supervise the operations, must appear at work. The ban on Sunday trading, which could have appealed to the multitude of employees in the commercial and service sector, has been disadvantageous for many employees working in the supply chain of fresh food.