Heinz ketchup is a product that most of us have and use in our own homes and is a vital part of a lot of American meals—so what would happen if you couldn’t easily get your hands on that precious bottle of pureed tomatoes?
Our Redistribution Model
Dot is here to help with that. We ensure bottles of Heinz ketchup can be found anywhere you go. But how? We move food and other supplies from the people who make it to the people who use it. And we do it in loads that are more manageable for companies—because who really needs an entire truckload of ketchup?
To better explain our redistribution model, here is the story of Kathy Ketchup.
Kathy Ketchup and LTL Shipping
Kathy Ketchup was born at a Kraft Heinz Company processing plant. She was created along with thousands of other bottles in the plant, but she knew her mission was to get onto the kitchen table of the Morton family. The problem she faced was how she would get there.
More often than not, the semi trucks you see on the road are carrying big pallets of one single product. But Kathy knew that she wouldn’t be able to easily find the Morton family if she was on a pallet with hundreds of other ketchup bottles like her.
One night, Kathy overheard some mustard bottles an aisle over talking about something she had never heard of before—less-than-truckload (LTL) quantities.
She found out that LTL quantities mean that she could end up being on a pallet with a bunch of other products—like popcorn, salad dressing, and crackers—to find her way to the Morton family.
A Trip to the Dot Warehouse
The next day, Kathy learned she was going to be loaded on to a Dot Foods truck. Dot is the company she heard about the night before—the one that specializes in LTL quantities.
Kathy found herself being picked and loaded onto one of the many pallets Dot Foods was going to pick up later that day. She was joined by boxes of other Heinz products, such as mustard, relish, and mayonnaise.
One of Dot’s blue trucks backed up to the Heinz dock and Kathy waited in anticipation as the Dot driver loaded his truck full of Heinz products.
After a long day of driving, Kathy finds that she and the rest of the products have arrived at one of Dot’s warehouses. Her pallet is unloaded and left by the dock so all of the products can be organized and put away by a warehouse material handler.
A few days went by, and Kathy was getting anxious—would she ever leave the Dot Foods warehouse?
A Trip to the Dot Warehouse
The next day, Kathy learned she was going to be loaded on to a Dot Foods truck. Dot is the company she heard about the night before—the one that specializes in LTL quantities.
Kathy found herself being picked and loaded onto one of the many pallets Dot Foods was going to pick up later that day. She was joined by boxes of other Heinz products, such as mustard, relish, and mayonnaise.
One of Dot’s blue trucks backed up to the Heinz dock and Kathy waited in anticipation as the Dot driver loaded his truck full of Heinz products.
After a long day of driving, Kathy finds that she and the rest of the products have arrived at one of Dot’s warehouses. Her pallet is unloaded and left by the dock so all of the products can be organized and put away by a warehouse material handler.
A few days went by, and Kathy was getting anxious—would she ever leave the Dot Foods warehouse?
From Truck to Table
Finally, one morning, the box that Kathy was on was picked by a forklift and added to a pallet filled with other goods from the Dot warehouse—products like cereal, chips, soup, and mustard. Once she was loaded onto another Dot truck, Kathy and the rest of the products on her pallet were brought to a distributor named Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG).
Once Kathy Ketchup was unloaded into the AWG warehouse, she found that she would be loaded onto an AWG truck to, once again, be transported to a new location.
“This is it,” she thought. “I am finally going to get to the grocery store.”
Later that day, the AWG truck pulled up to a SHOP ‘n SAVE. Kathy’s pallet was unloaded, unpacked, and workers at SHOP ‘n SAVE got to work to stock the new products on the shelves.
A few days later, Kathy Ketchup was moved to the front of the shelf. From her new position, she could see every person that walked by when they are wandering down the condiments aisle.
Meanwhile, it was a Thursday, which meant it was time for Mrs. Morton to go grocery shopping. As she was creating her grocery list, she remembered that little Maggie Morton had complained the other day that there wasn’t enough ketchup left in the bottle to eat her hot dog. Mrs. Morton added ketchup to her list, hopped in her car, and drove up the road to their local SHOP ‘n SAVE.
As Mrs. Morton walked down the condiments aisle, Kathy Ketchup held her breath and hoped this would be the mom she would go home with. Then, Mrs. Morton reached up and plucked Kathy off the shelf to place her in the shopping cart.
Finally, Kathy Ketchup was united with the Morton family—all thanks to Dot Foods and their less-than-truckload redistribution model!
A few days later, Kathy Ketchup was moved to the front of the shelf. From her new position, she could see every person that walked by when they are wandering down the condiments aisle.
Meanwhile, it was a Thursday, which meant it was time for Mrs. Morton to go grocery shopping. As she was creating her grocery list, she remembered that little Maggie Morton had complained the other day that there wasn’t enough ketchup left in the bottle to eat her hot dog. Mrs. Morton added ketchup to her list, hopped in her car, and drove up the road to their local SHOP ‘n SAVE.
As Mrs. Morton walked down the condiments aisle, Kathy Ketchup held her breath and hoped this would be the mom she would go home with. Then, Mrs. Morton reached up and plucked Kathy off the shelf to place her in the shopping cart.
Finally, Kathy Ketchup was united with the Morton family—all thanks to Dot Foods and their less-than-truckload redistribution model!