15. december
LEMAN is the new logistics partner in Norway for the Swedish-based FMCG company, Midsona, that are leading in the Nordic countries within natural and organic products, consumer health, and health food. The partnership means that LEMAN will take over all of Midsona’s transportation, warehousing, and some back-office functions within customs at the beginning of 2021.
“A couple of years ago, we had strategic discussions concerning finding synergies across borders as part of our continuous work towards becoming one of the leaders in Europe within health and well-being. We started to analyze our warehouse situation in the Nordic countries and concluded that it was not cost-effective to run our own warehouses in different locations. Furthermore, our core competence is to build brands – not to run warehouses,” says Kristin Waller Weiss, Head of Operations at Midsona Norge AS.
A holistic logistics solution and common values
Midsona, therefore, began investigating the market to find a logistics partner to help with warehousing and chose to include transportation and some customs related tasks in their search. The goal was to find a company that was a good fit both value-wise and cultural-wise.
“It was very important to get a partner with knowledge about our business, an understanding of our needs, and one that wanted to prioritize us, and I really think we have found a perfect fit with LEMAN. High-quality products and services as well as a large focus on our people are important values to both companies. And I am very satisfied with LEMAN’s flexibility and their visions within sustainability,” says Kristin Waller Weiss.
Room for mutual business growth
Christer Busse, CEO at LEMAN Norway, is very happy with this new partnership and is looking forward to growing together with Midsona.
“This is really a vote of confidence from Midsona, and we cannot wait to get started helping with their distribution, warehousing, fulfillment, and customs related tasks. The chemistry between both companies is just great, and we are proud that a company like Midsona, a market leader within sustainably produced foods, has chosen us as their preferred logistics partner.”
Taking over all Midsona’s stock also means that LEMAN has outgrown its current premises in Vestby and has therefore already decided to expand the warehouse to grow together with Midsona and to meet the rapidly rising market demand for warehousing solutions.
Reassignment of surplus Midsona employees to LEMAN
As warehousing and the customs handling have been outsourced to LEMAN, this, unfortunately, means that Midsona has to say goodbye to highly valued employees. However, the hope is to reassign some of them to positions at LEMAN.
“It is always a sad situation when you need to let good people go. Our people from the warehouses and back-office functions affected by this have been doing a great job and are highly valued. Unfortunately, we are closing our warehouses and outsourcing some administrative functions due to the market trends and the fierce competition, which forces us to adapt and focus our business and be more flexible and agile,” Kristin Waller Weiss explains.
“We are in talks with some of the affected employees, and I have a sincere hope that we are able to help them,” concludes Christer Busse.
LEMAN will take over all imports and domestic transportations as per January 2021, and the stock will be moved from all Midsona’s warehouses to LEMAN’s Vestby premises at the beginning of April 2021.
