La Poste is entering the market of food deliveries with the launch of ‘Chronofresh’ providing express deliveries of fresh, non-perishable and deep-frozen groceries for private and business customers across France through its subsidiary Chronopost, part of DPDgroup.
The groceries are delivered, including temperature control for perishable food, the next day by 1 pm to homes or offices/sites all over the country (except for Corsica) from Monday to Saturday.
From February 2016, recipients will also be able choose time-definite delivery including same-day delivery in the evenings with a two-hour time slot from Monday to Saturday, from 8 am to 10 pm. This service will be initially available for the Paris metropolitan region (Ile-de-France) and eight French cities including Lille, Lyon, Rennes, Montpellier, Toulouse, Nantes, Bordeaux and Strasbourg.
In addition, Chronofresh includes the option of tracking the parcels throughout the shipping process and monitoring the temperature which ensures compliance with the cold chain.
With Chronofresh, Chronopost covers three types of grocery express deliveries. The first one includes home deliveries (B2C) responding to cross-channel challenges of producers, retailers and e-tailers who look for new sales channels with regard to individuals. The second type concerns express deliveries to business sites (B2B) with a new supply model for large volume flows with no minimum order destined for restaurateurs, retailers and e-tailers guaranteeing maximum freshness for their clients. The third type represents express deliveries of professional samples (B2B). This is a unique service for manufacturers/producers wishing to be listed with purchasing associations.
Chronofresh benefits from Chronopost’s optimal network, its operational processes and the delivery solutions for the last mile such as Predict.
Chronopost plans to invest €20 million by 2020 in the infrastructure dedicated to all food products, whether they are fresh, frozen or dry to transport and deliver them while taking into consideration the cold chain. Computer chips in the delivery boxes ensure that fresh und refrigerated groceries won’t perish.
The investment includes a logistics hub in Brie-Comte-Robert near Paris with two temperature-controlled areas: a room with temperatures over 0°C covering 740 sqm and a colder room with temperatures below 0°C covering 174 sqm. In addition, Chronopost plans a fleet of refrigerated vehicles to be deployed nationwide and a supervising unit to monitor the parcel temperature.
“Chronofresh, this is all the expertise of Chronopost adapted to the delivery of groceries. One of its kind, the new service provides express deliveries under temperature control (between 0-4°C and -18°C) ensuring strict compliance with the cold chain. Its advantage? It targets both individuals and professionals, regardless of the volume transported and is accessible everywhere in France. Chronopost is thus responding to consumption trends by constantly innovating and diversifying its offerings to cover all the new needs of its clients,” Christophe Desgens, President de Chronopostfood, said.
