JBS, the world's largest supplier of beef and chicken, is to switch all its UK imports from South America to DP World London Gateway, taking advantage of the new deep-sea shipping services coming into the port from Friday, 2 May, according to DP World's statement.
"We believe DP World London Gateway offers more efficiency and reliability for our supply chains and we want to take advantage of this," said David Squires, JBS Global UK Commercial Director. "With better transport links and port infrastructure, we want to see improved lead times from arrival of the vessel to delivery to customer.
"We are constantly improving services and DP World London Gateway is going to continue to drive improvements in UK supply chains, so it's a natural choice for us to make."
JBS Global UK Ltd, part of the JBS Group, ships meat from South America, Australia and the United States to destinations throughout Europe. JBS supplies fresh, frozen and processed food to the UK, including fresh and frozen beef, canned meat such as corned beef, and fresh and frozen chicken, pork and lamb.
Until now it has used two ports of entry to the UK, in the north and south, but now it will concentrate all imports through DP World London Gateway. The change has been made possible by the arrival of new services, which will link DP World London Gateway with South American ports such as Santos (Brazil), Montevideo (Uruguay) and Buenos Aires (Argentina).
DP World London Gateway Port Commercial Manager Tabare Dominguez said: "JBS is the largest producer in the world for this type of cargo. It's great to see them choosing DP World London Gateway for all their South American imports into the UK and we will be working with them to ensure they reap the maximum benefits from using the UK's newest deep-water port and logistics hub."