Quality and tradition

These are the key words that have the driven the success of the PAUL company from its beginning with a small bakery in Lille in 1889 to its current position of 330 sales outlets and bakeshops across France and the World, serving over 5 million customers a month with rustic and speciality breads, patisserie, viennoiserie, tarts and sandwiches made to order. Now expanding into the UK with three outlets at the Tower of London, London Bridge Station and Euston and soon opening in Victoria Station, Charing Cross, Waterloo and in three terminals at Heathrow Airport, the elegant black and ivory units will become a feature for discerning people who want the best possible quality products at very competitive prices. With all products and ingredients (except soft drinks and vegetables) delivered from their three factories in Lille, PAUL truly offer genuine French-style food for travellers and tourists.

To handle the daily deliveries in London, PAUL have taken delivery recently of a smart black Mercedes-Benz 311CDI with GRP body and Ratcliff tail-lift. This body is insulated but not refrigerated; to look after the delicate chilled range of products PAUL decide to use Olivo containers. Each container has multiple shelf mouldings to take European bakery trays so ties in neatly with their whole international operation. Jeremy O’Dare, PAUL’s Brand Manager, said that “we’re over the moon with the Olivo containers looking after our products – easily the best solution without a shadow of doubt”. He was impressed that his company is able to have temperature controlled transport without the complications and cost of a vehicle refrigeration unit.

Planned expansion in the UK encompasses 50 outlets within the next three years, taking the current staff level of 45 people up to about 600 – a substantial retail food operation. PAUL is operated as a joint venture between Hold and Co and the Elior Group who are the world’s third largest contract catering organisation with some 45,000 employees and 10,600 outlets. The Digby Trout restaurants are well known in the UK at many famous public attractions such as Hampton Court Palace, Tower of London, Edinburgh Castle, etc.

The Olivo containers will figure strongly in this development as an essential part of PAUL’s delivery operations (usually three per day to each outlet). Olivo is a family-owned business based near St Etienne in France and the containers have been carefully developed over nearly 50 years for the transport of mainly chilled, frozen and fresh food products but there is an increasing use for other items – pharmaceuticals, blood products and so on. They are particularly suited to home delivery systems and special designs have been made for this sector. Manufactured in a range of sizes and types from 50 to 1400 litres capacity, the containers comply with all relevant hygiene and ATP regulations.