The Right Place at the Right Time

Any good business knows that controlling inventory—whether it is a raw material or finished product—is one way to improve the bottom line. Although inventory should never run too low (this can result in halting production and/or disappointing customers), holding on to more inventory than needed also is unwise.

Factors such as a slowdown in sales of a particular item, unstable warehousing conditions, or a change in manufacturing schedules or specification changes, can affect the type or quantity of ingredients needed.

Moving Needed Inventory

Excess ingredients and food additives—whether due to factors such as overstocking or discontinued finished products—often are of high quality and can be used safely elsewhere. In many cases, manufacturers or ingredient suppliers carrying discontinued lines do not know which other companies can immediately utilize their overstock.

St. Simons Trading Inc., Ontonago, Mich., has more than 12 years of experience in purchasing obsolete, excess or outdated food ingredients and food chemicals. “We would truly like to work with you regarding obsolete inventory, and we help solve problems very quickly,” says Bill Heerdegen. The company's contacts within the industry, and knowledge of businesses that use similar ingredients, helps it to quickly find compatible buyers for leftover food products and chemicals, off-spec materials, dated inventories, finished product or individual ingredients—in bagged or bulk form.

The company handles a wide variety of items. They are too numerous to list, but some highlights include bakery ingredients such as sugar, dairy powders and other basic baking ingredients; spices; finished food items; oils; nuts; candy (that turns out hard and lumpy); and chocolate products. The company has worked with well-known companies such as Quaker Oats, Kraft, Nabisco, C&H Sugar, Amalgamated Sugar, United Sugars, Monsanto and others, and has a solid reputation.

Transporting Inventory Safely

St. Simons Trading adheres to any and all restrictions regarding the resale or redistribution of a product, and is fully equipped to handle the most diverse inventories of obsolete or excess ingredients, nationally or internationally. The company offers full product identification protection by repackaging procedures, if necessary. In short, buyers of these previously owned foods and food chemicals can be assured they are getting a product that has been safely handled and transported and that is ready to be used as detailed during the transaction.

The company also can handle ingredients or finished foods that no longer are suitable for human consumption. “We have an urgent need for numerous truckloads of scrap candy to be used for animal feed only,” states Heerdegen.

Those who wish to take advantage of the company's unique and useful service only need to call St. Simons Trading and let the professionals do all of the work. After discussing the problem inventory in detail, the company will quote a Freight on Board (FOB) price and make the transportation arrangements necessary for the product to reach its final destination.

In short, obsolete or excess food ingredients and food chemicals no longer mean a complete loss for manufacturers who are not able to utilize them. The trick is to find another company that can use the same type of ingredient or product, and to transport it to them in a form that is both safe and usable. Personnel at St. Simons Trading Inc. help make these connections, and turn a negative situation into a win-win for both the seller and buyer.

For more information:
Bill Heerdegen at 800-621-9935 or 906-884-2745
stsimons@available.com
St. Simons Trading Write in 213

Sidebar: A Short List

St. Simons Trading Inc. is able to handle a diverse number of excess food products and chemicals. While the numbers run into the hundreds, here is a short list.