FAGE, MANUFACTURER OF
AWARD-WINNING TOTAL
GREEK YOGHURT
FAGE
Proactive IT support and consultancy helped FAGE, manufacturer of Total Greek Yoghurt, to manage stock rotation and deliver fresh dairy products to a demanding distribution network
THE
CUSTOMER
FAGE, manufacturer of the award winning Total Greek Yoghurt, is one of the world’s leading dairy companies. The company takes immense pride in the quality and heritage of its flagship product, a traditional Greek yoghurt that’s true to the traditions of Greek cuisine – fresh ingredients and simple preparation. Since its origins in Athens in the 1920s, FAGE has expanded into a truly global business.
FAGE’S
STORY
Today, with an extensive distribution network of more than 280 supermarket chains and 75,000 retail outlets and a product that stands for freshness; rigorous stock management is a critical aspect of FAGE’s ongoing success. As a manufacturer of truly Greek Yoghurt, all Total Greek Yoghurt products sold outside the Americas are still made in Greece to a traditional recipe. While this means that the traditions and quality of the product are preserved, it presents significant demands for the UK distribution facilities.
FAGE have seen significant changes in their marketplace over the last ten years. As yoghurt products have increased in popularity with consumers, so has the competition from “Greek style” brands. FAGE have expanded their marketing activities, especially with their digital and social media presence, to maintain their position in the market.
An increase in sales and a wider range of products has also put more demands on their distribution operation, where the careful management and rotation of stock is essential to ensure that its growing customer base receives only the freshest products, delivered at precisely the right time. This mission critical environment required a complex and robust ERP and CRM system.
THE
HELP4IT
EFFECT
One critical requirement of FAGE’s IT systems is reliability, for any significant downtime would have a negative financial impact. With their Corby distribution centre in operation 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, distributing a perishable product, and their national supermarket customers insisting on precise delivery slots, FAGE needed to be confident that IT problems would be rare, and swiftly resolved when they did occur.
To achieve this help4IT implemented extra redundancy for the critical systems with a VMware based high availability virtual infrastructure, which also helped to cut overall costs by reducing the number of physical servers required.
Throughout the partnership help4IT have worked with FAGE, both at management and network user level, to ensure both current and future IT needs are understood and handled appropriately. Regular scheduled visits by our technicians not only ensure essential proactive maintenance is performed, but also gives the users a familiar point of contact for raising any issues that they might be experiencing. A help4IT account manager and senior technician have quarterly meetings with FAGE to discuss performance and recommendations for their IT roadmap (a three to five year plan and budget for FAGE’s future IT requirements).
