Special saunas in warehouses for Skittles

Before fruit-flavored bonbons Skittles make their way to their consumers, both in the Czech Republic and in many other European and non-European countries, they get to enjoy their own “sauna”. No, it's not a joke. The chewy candies produced by Wrigley Confections ČR, do indeed ripen in a special “sauna”. This unique solution has recently been built in the Czech Republic by Raben Logistics Czech.

Raben Group provides services for Wrigley in several European countries. On the Czech market, it ensures for them transportation, storage, handling and other value added services.

Raben has built for this significant food manufacturer a technologically sophisticated and dedicated warehouse near its plant in Poříčí nad Sázavou featuring a special “sauna” designed for ripening the popular fruit-flavored chewy Skittles candies at a higher temperature - in order to obtain the desired softness. By the way, most of the rainbow colored candies journey from the Czech Republic not only to all European countries, headed by Great Britain, but also for example to South Africa.

The warehouse is situated as close to the plant as possible and it is operated nonstop.We transport the Skittles products to our warehouse directly off the production line. In addition, we also store raw materials and packaging for these products. In order to ensure optimal utilization of the warehouse, Raben Logistics Czech decided to implement an innovative solution – a racking system with only 190-centimeter wide aisles serviced by VNA trucks capable of stacking up to 5 pallets to a height of 10 meters.

The company use system reach trucks with inductive guidance lines installed in the floor to enable quick, accurate and safe handling. Record-keeping of all items in storage runs through Warehouse Management System with the help of radiofrequency terminals. All data is then transmitted via EDI. Moving to the new warehouse was completed by the end of January 2017, both the sauna and the warehouse are now fully in operation.

The origins of Skittles can be traced to Great Britain, back to 1974 when the confectionery began to be produced and sold here. In North America, the original combination of orange, lemon, lime, grape and strawberry flavor was first introduced in 1979. In 1982, production of Skittles began in the United States. Over time, additional exotic flavors, such as kiwi or wild cherry and their combination, were gradually added to the selection. Popular Skittles also made its mark in on-line marketing campaigns and social media. In 2010, its Facebook profile had over 10 million fans. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, US, Wrigley Confections is a family-owned company with US$ 33 billion in annual sales. The company operates in six segments, namely Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley products, Food, Drinks and Symbioscience.

Comment by Mark Peterk of Wrigley Confections Česká Republika: “We have always been very satisfied with Raben services. Due to the continuously increasing volume in production at our Poříčí nad Sázavou plant, we have decided to expand our cooperation even further. The implementation has been a success and we hope that everything will continue to run smoothly.”