Nestlé honours DS Smith with Supplier Award: A 35 year partnership that sets the standard

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DS Smith has been honoured by Nestlé Germany with the ‘Lighthouse Award’ at the annual Supplier Awards, a special distinction recognising suppliers who set benchmarks and demonstrate role model qualities.

Nestlé is one of the largest food companies in the world and every two years, Nestlé Germany evaluates around 5000 suppliers as part of the Supplier Awards. Among the top 20 suppliers, the best are honoured in the bronze, silver and gold categories, as well as receiving the Lighthouse Award as a special distinction. DS Smith received this significant recognition from Nestlé Germany for its long standing, reliable partnership and exceptional customer support.

DS Smith has been a supplier to Nestlé for more than 35 years. In its laudatory speech, Nestlé particularly highlighted DS Smith’s ability to deliver reliably even under tight deadlines and whilst managing a large number of parallel projects: DS Smith is a true ‘MacGyver of displays’ – the company had managed to produce displays, for which a six week lead time is the standard, within three weeks following a last minute adjustment to the delivery schedule.

Ksenia Stumpf, strategic buyer copack and displays at Nestlé, also described the long standing business partner as follows: ‘DS Smith has long been far more than just a service provider. It is a reliable partner that supports us with a high level of service commitment and technical expertise, even under tight deadlines and across numerous parallel projects. A partner who takes initiative, thinks ahead and consistently drives projects through to the finish line.’

She went on to say, ‘Particularly valuable is their role as expert advisers: DS Smith does not just focus on its own scope of services, but always keeps the entire process in view. Through continuous suggestions for optimisation, the team has made a decisive contribution to the ongoing improvement of efficiency and sustainability.’

For Thorbjörn Sagerström, managing director Central EMEA at DS Smith, the commitment and solution oriented approach highlighted by Nestlé are above all a reflection of strong teamwork: ‘This recognition from Nestlé is, above all, a recognition of our people. It reflects the commitment, expertise and solution-oriented mindset with which our teams support our customers every day. I am proud of this achievement and grateful for the long standing trust that customers such as Nestlé place in DS Smith.’

For DS Smith, the award confirms what the company sees as the foundation of every customer relationship: reliability that goes beyond what has been agreed, and innovative strength that finds a sustainable, visually appealing and practical solution for every customer requirement.

André Bernhard, strategic account manager at DS Smith, said: ‘We are particularly delighted to receive the Lighthouse Award because it recognises not a single project, but the way we work: working closely with the customer, keeping the entire process in view and striving to find the best solution even under pressure. The fact that Nestlé has placed its trust in us for over 35 years is both an incentive and a benchmark.’