Dole Foods of Canada

Empowering consumers to eat healthier and live better

Dimitri Fleitman, Head of Supply Chain at Dole Foods of Canada on embedding social responsibility and new technology into the supply chain.

With over 120 years of history, Dole Foods of Canada and its affiliated companies have established themselves as global leaders in delivering high-quality packaged fruits, juices and snacks, supplying 75 countries with over 300 products.

riven by consumer desire for wholesome food options that deliver on taste, Dole is on a never-ending pursuit of new innovations across every category, such as snacking, beverages, ingredients and frozen treats. The company has become a world leader in growing, sourcing, distributing, and marketing fruit products and wholesome foods, offering a full line of packaged shelfstable fruit, beverages, frozen goods & novelties, as well as snacks.

Joining us from Dole Foods of Canada is Dimitri Fleitman, Head of Supply Chain, to discuss how the company’s goal to provide a positive impact on “people, planet and prosperity” has led to a more robust global supply chain.

In his role, Dimitri focuses on ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of the company’s global supply chain operations and its deliverables towards the Canadian Marketplace, through the development of its comprehensive ‘Farm to Shelf’ supply chain strategy, managing the transportation and distribution of goods, cultivating partnerships within the supply chain network, and integrating new technologies.

“At Dole, our organisational approach is deeply rooted in data-driven strategies,” says Dimitri. “We harness the power of cutting-edge technology and data analytics to optimise every facet of our supply chain processes. Specifically, we rely on SAP and Blue Yonder as our primary systems to

conduct informed analytics, ensuring heightened visibility, meticulous traceability and data-driven decisionmaking in the realm of supply chain management. This commitment to leveraging sophisticated tools underscores our dedication to efficiency, precision and excellence in navigating the complexities of supply chain operations.

“Through these tailored innovations in marketplace distribution, Dole Foods has positioned itself as a responsive and consumer-focused brand in Canada. The company's commitment to regional adaptation and technological advancements aligns with the evolving preferences of Canadian consumers, setting Dole apart in the competitive Canadian marketplace of packaged fruit products.”

Deploying innovation within the supply chain has been crucial in recent years, with significant global disruptions catalysing the need to develop a more forward-thinking supply chain strategy.

“The last 36 months have been unprecedented in the realm of global supply chain, from dealing with COVID-19, to marketplace volatility due to inflationary economic challenges, followed by global geopolitical events,” says Dimitri. “Issues with supply resilience have notably been amplified, such as disruptions, delays, shortages or volatility with consumer demand

in general have highlighted vulnerabilities. To address these challenges and improve supply resilience, Dole has adopted endto-end supply chain optimisation as a strategic goal for the Canadian marketplace. A sound focus on supply chain resilience ensures elements like fines, demurrage and detention are mitigated, combatting inflationary contributors.”

There are a few key strategies Dole Foods has used to re-engineer its supply chain and amplify its resilience:

Risk Mitigation

“Experiencing disruptions in the supply chain makes companies more aware of potential risks,” says Dimitri. “By optimising our entire supply

chain, from the very sourcing of raw materials, followed by competitive sourcing initiatives, re-evaluating safety stocks through statistical forecasting, driving data decision making through the very culture of our operational values, and finally ensuring our partnership selections for Ocean Freight, Warehousing, and Transportation functional pillars are not just a commercial relationship, but really an integrated enterprise where we are extensions of each other’s organisations, allows for vested interests and mutual goals to be achieved.”

Visibility and Transparency:

“Supply chain optimisation often involves enhancing visibility and transparency across the entire supply chain,” says Dimitri. “Dole

has embarked through digitisation tools to ensure our teams have live streams of data visibility to anticipate potential disruptions, monitor supplier performance and make informed decisions to maintain a seamless flow of goods. Key examples of this include live Ocean Freight tracking of our ocean freight shipments, integrated warehousing inventory systems coupled within our ERP and production to shipment confirmations. Our supply chain motto is “inspecting what we expect” – only then can we achieve the level of serviceability and resilience that our customers expect.”

Efficiency Gains

“Global challenges have highlighted inadequacies in the supply chain,” insists Dimitri. “By optimising Dole’s end-to-end processes through routing optimisation, diverting ocean freight to less congested ports and positioning our warehousing and distribution closer to our customers, we have aided in reducing lead times, and minimising waste, ultimately enhancing the overall performance of the supply chain, and hitting the key performance expectations of our customers.”

Collaboration and Communication

“End-to-end supply chain optimisation often requires improved collaboration and communication with suppliers, distributors, and other partners,” explains Dimitri. “Learning from past issues Dole

regularly forums with our partners to build stronger relationships through enhanced collaboration and information sharing. By choosing the right partnerships and embracing transparency in our collaborative efforts, we ensure that systems, services and deliverables are inspected to the level we expect. Dole has always been in an endless pursuit of improvement of our supply chain.”

Technology Adoption:

“Dole, being a data-driven organisation, invests in advanced technologies, such as data analytics,” says Dimitri. “We rely on partnerships for statistical forecasting and supply planning through our Blue

Yonder system, where we automate processes, as well as implement a comprehensive freight planning and routing engineering that has optimised resilience within our supply chain. This technological integration helps Dole Supply Chain in Canada make real-time decisions, aid in forecasting demand more accurately, and improve overall supply chain agility.”

Dimitri also places significant value on company culture in the development of Dole’s highperforming supply chain. “I aim to foster a collaborative and innovative culture, providing direction to the Dole team members to achieve

“We rely on partnerships for statistical forecasting and supply planning through our Blue Yonder system”

organisational goals,” says Dimitri. “We thrive on being a team, hence why I would like to call out our exceptional customer service department which is being led by my associate director of customer service in Canada Nathalie Cote, and our operations department associate Director of Supply Chain Carlos Castro.”

For a company as geographically expansive as Dole Foods, having

an effective supply chain strategy is crucial. The consolidated business is among the world’s largest producers of fruit products, with operations spanning globally.

“Dole's intricate supply chain for packaged food products encompasses a global network, with its farms in diverse locations like the Philippines, Thailand and Sierra Leone,” says Dimitri. “A crucial aspect of Dole’s supply chain is ocean freight

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“In response to the growing emphasis on better practices in Canada, Dole Foods has taken a leadership role by identifying opportunities to move towards ecofriendly packaging materials”

to ensure our goods are delivered from a farm to table approach. Dole ships tens of thousands of containers globally. Our manufacturing landscape requires our packaged foods transported across continents to regional marketplaces and their respective distribution centres.

“The use of ocean freight enables Dole to efficiently move large volumes of products while navigating international logistical challenges from labour disruptions, geopolitical issues to domestic port challenges. Prior to marketplace distribution, Dole is a data-driven organisation, so we employ sophisticated supply planning systems such as Blue Yonder to plan our worldwide supply requirements.

“Upon arrival at distribution centres in Canada, Dole engineered marketplace propriety ‘hub and spoke’ warehousing operations to manage our goods into inland distribution. Finally, Dole ensures timely and reliable transportation

to customers by leveraging a comprehensive logistics strategy, which includes partnerships with an array of LTL and FTL multimodal transportation providers and distributors. This end-toend approach, encompassing ocean freight, supply planning, warehousing, and transportation, allows Dole to deliver quality packaged goods to consumers worldwide while addressing the complexities inherent in the global supply chain.”

Dimitri expands on Dole’s ‘hub and spoke’ model, and advanced logistics infrastructure the company wields to help navigate the vast and diverse

Canadian geography. In this model, the centralised hubs – in this case, the company’s distribution centres – are positioned in such a way that allows Dole to optimise the last-mile delivery process and ensure products are not double-handled. But there are many other ways Dole Foods is embracing innovation, according to Dimitri.

“Dole Foods has embarked on a transformative journey to revolutionise its marketplace distribution in Canada, recognising the unique challenges and opportunities within this market,” says Dimitri. “Leveraging cuttingedge technologies, Dole has implemented a predictive analytics

system designed to account for Canadian-specific consumer preferences, seasonal variations and regional demand patterns. This ensures that distribution sites across the country are stocked with the right mix of products tailored to the Canadian market.

“The company has embraced a localisation strategy, partnering with Canadian e-commerce platforms and retail chains to enhance its presence in the market. By collaborating with local distributors, Dole can ensure that its products are readily available to consumers across provinces, adapting to regional preferences and ensuring efficient

distribution within the Canadian marketplace across a diverse set of sales channels.

“Through rigorous process controls, we have meticulously engineered our supply chain to contribute to fewer products facing unnecessary destruction due to demand fluctuations. Given the perishable nature of our products, Dole has strategically forged ecosystem partnerships with local food banks in Toronto and Vancouver. This innovative approach creates a dynamic push system that channels excess supply directly to those in need.

“Our supply chain systems have been intricately redesigned so that when our inventory reaches a designated date code, it is seamlessly coordinated for distribution to food banks. As the steward of this impactful initiative, I firmly advocate for the wider adoption of such practices by corporations.

“Beyond the undeniable social benefits of aiding those in need and feeding the vulnerable, this approach contributes to the reduction of waste and destruction.”

Learn more about Dole Foods of Canada by visiting dolesunshine.com.

Added Value

Dimitri makes networking with partners a priority to stay informed on industry news.

“Establishing and maintaining information transparency with suppliers and service providers is not just a priority but a cornerstone of my approach,” says Dimitri. “Ocean freight carriers, warehousing service providers, and transportation vendors often maintain in-house updates and publications that offer valuable insights. Going beyond conventional communication channels, I actively engage in networking with our existing partners and make it a point to subscribe to their publications. This proactive approach ensures that our team stays well-informed, leveraging the collective intelligence of our network to anticipate market trends, navigate challenges and foster collaborative problemsolving. By actively participating in this information exchange, we not only strengthen our partnerships but also enhance our strategic decision-making capabilities within the dynamic landscape of supply chain management.”

Partnership Knowledge Network

Looking ahead

Dimitri is looking forward to the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium / XPO in June 2024, where he is excited to learn about new digitisation tools and connect with vendors.

“Moreover, through my educational background holding an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, having CCLP designation, and the CSCMP designation, I am looking forward to participating in industry community-based events, networking with peers and partners in the supply chain space,” says Dimitri.

Connect with Dimitri