The 26,000-pallet Huntingwood warehouse, which will open in May, has taken 20 months to construct, though according to Joe Russo, the company’s supply director, it is expected to deliver significant savings.
“Every year, Diageo Australia produces close to 100m litres of our world-famous brands in Australia,” he said. “While the tax environment in Australia sometimes makes it difficult to compete on a level playing field, we are committed to investing in our supply footprint for as long as it is sustainable to do so.”
Previously, Diageo had been storing most of its stock at third-party warehouses. Now its own warehouse is next door to production, the company expects to cut its greenhouse emissions by 110 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, said David Cutter, Diageo’s global head of supply. It will also have a smaller area than usual due to installing higher pallet racking.
“This forward thinking, holistic approach to sustainability means that we will work even harder with suppliers globally to decouple the growth of our business from our impact on the environment,” Cutter said.