The employees at Icefresh work hard every day to delight customers and gourmets with their love for the product. Icefresh Seafood, based near the Fraport Cargo Terminal, is a German producer of freshly caught fish with close links to Scandinavia. The fish caught off Greenland, Norway and Iceland is mainly sold within Europe, but is increasingly finding its way onto the North American market. The Hessians attach great importance to sustainability, which includes responsible and environmentally friendly fishing and the use of environmentally friendly and modern means of transportation.

A quick analysis by the hard-working fish producers quickly clarified whether the familiar Euro wooden pallets are still up to date for the Icefresh company: No! There are areas where pallets are permanently exposed to moisture, and not just when stored outside. Over time, wooden pallets absorb this moisture, leading to deterioration and the formation of germs. Icefresh also found that splinters and the heavy weight make handling less fun. "Hygiene, reusability, price and handling were decisive factors in our decision," says Deputy Production Manager Jens Grave, pointing to the ready-to-ship salmon fillets waiting to be transported to France in polystyrene crates on a new Fidus Ultralight 1208 from Purus Plastics. Speed and quality are among the strengths of Icefresh, so customers can look forward to and rely on "next day" or even "sameday delivery".

The central location within Europe and connection to Frankfurt Airport are perfect for fast and smooth handling in all directions, by air and by road. In order to keep the promise of fast transportation, easy-to-handle and robust pallets are required to hold the cardboard boxes or polystyrene boxes and bring them safely to their destination.

Recycled plastic replaces wood
With the new Ultralight 1208 plastic pallet from Purus Plastics, Icefresh has almost completely replaced the existing wooden pallets. The plastic pallet meets Icefresh's requirements 100 percent, ensures hygiene and is easy to handle. This is due, among other things, to its low weight, nestability and easy tower removal. Robust enough for repeated use and as a recycled product from Germany with a positive environmental balance, this pallet also sets standards in terms of sustainability. What's more, every kilo saved reduces the burden on transportation, cuts emissions and can also score points for air freight, according to the pallet manufacturer. "The savings in storage space and weight alone are impressive, even when you compare stacking and nesting," Jens Grave told materialfluss.

"The Hessian-Bavarian collaboration works wonderfully smoothly, we are delighted with this great project and its success," added Rainer Töws, employee of the Upper Franconian company Purus Plastics. The company has been known for years as a manufacturer of plastic pallets and provides customers with advice and support when switching from wooden to plastic pallets. The Upper Franconian company attaches great importance to sustainable products made from recycled raw materials. They produce the required raw materials themselves, which is unique in the industry. A plastics recycler with its own in-house production - a real green solution in times of environmental issues. Purus offers take-back services to customers for whom plastic service providers have reached the end of their service life in order to preserve the raw material. "This also applies to third-party goods," says Töws. The Purus portfolio includes all pallet formats, storage boxes and sinks for wrappable goods.

Fidus Ultralight 1208
The plastic pallet, priced by the manufacturer as an export pallet 2.0, is 4.6 kilograms light, but still impresses with a load capacity of 2,500 kg static and one ton dynamic. As standard, the Ultralight is equipped with ribbing, an edge and a stretch film holder and is designed to impress with its easy handling during order picking and stack removal. Skids and a version without an edge are available on request. This lightweight pallet, which is predestined for use in air freight in particular, can also be nested with the Purus Fidus Light 1208 model (5.8 kg weight, static load 2,500 kg, dynamic load 1,200 kg).