Ben E. Keith Partner Profile
Industry: Food and Beverage Distribution
Challenge: Ben E. Keith needed a comprehensive real-time cold chain solution that could grow with them, ensure constant cold chain integrity with a strong focus on efficiency, safety and quality.
ABOUT
For more than a century, Ben E. Keith has been a leader in fine food and premium beverage distribution, and they strive to provide excellent customer service to all their partners. Their food division is a complete broad line distributor servicing fourteen states, and the beverage division serves more than 62 Texas counties and is a proud distributor of Anheuser-Busch InBev products, craft and import beer brands, and fine wine.
Ben E. Keith Company is dedicated to the growth and success of their customers, their industry, partners, and employees—continuing their commitment to delivering quality since 1906.
SOLUTION
Cooltrax Fresh InTransit provides 24/7, real-time location tracking and product level temperature monitoring of refrigerated trailers throughout the entire in-transit cold chain.
RESULTS
- Fully compliant with FSMA and customer requirements
- Installation and service maintenance costs were reduced
- Insurance premiums lowered, resulting from fewer claims
- Energy savings across the cold chain
- Reduction of spoiled product shipments
- Fully integrated into the BEK Management systems
“Ben E. Keith understands that the handling of food products requires a strong focus on efficiency, safety and quality. Cooltrax has effectively helped solve that challenge for us, as their innovative Fresh inTransit solution will now empower our entire team to closely monitor our refrigerated environment and quickly address any problems that may occur. Equally important, the partnership with Cooltrax will help us remain compliant with the regulatory mandates of FSMA.”
FINDING A PROVEN AND RELIABLE SOLUTION TOGETHER
For more than a century, Ben E. Keith has delivered only the highest-quality products, earning the reputation of being the leader in the food and beverage distributing industry. They needed a comprehensive cold chain solution that would support the company’s commitment to freshness and quality. This included knowing where their product was along the cold chain at all times, and reducing loss.
Cooltrax Fresh InTransit was the logical answer, with a reefer solution that reads both Carrier and Thermo King microprocessor data in real-time, along with 24/7 tracking and product level temperature monitoring of refrigerated trailers from any location. The total transparency of the Cooltrax offering is an ideal fit with the company’s plans for efficient and accurate food safety monitoring and helps support their growth strategy for years to come.
IMMEDIATE RESULTS LEADING TO BETTER OUTCOMES
The greater visibility of trailer conditions that Fresh InTransit delivers provides countless benefits to Ben E. Keith. Using Cooltrax, the company Transportation Department is able to monitor trailer temperatures across the entire cold chain, from loading to delivery. Active alerts allow the Ben E. Keith team to correct high-risk problems quickly, eliminate the potential for “lost” loads, and mitigate operational costs. The value to their system extends far beyond preventing load loss. Fresh InTransit enables the company to accurately validate cold chain temperature integrity with customers, store owners, operators, and wholesale buyers.
