K.Hartwall and its Australian distribution partner, Retailquip, join forces

K.Hartwall, a family-owned, global provider of intralogistics solutions, announced today the acquisition of Australian company Retailquip, its longtime distribution partner in Australia. This marks a significant milestone in K.Hartwall's strategic growth plan to strengthen its presence in Australia and throughout the APAC region, the company explained.

“For over 20 years, both companies have been cooperating to serve Australian customers with best-fit solutions to improve the efficiency of their operations. It all started in 2005 when the first Compactainers were supplied to Coles-Myer to replace their pallet operations. Already back then we saw the synergies between both companies,” says Jerker Hartwall, CEO of K.Hartwall. “We are convinced that it will strengthen our position in the market and enable us to offer even better and more adaptive solutions to our customers, including a rental business model.”

“We see Retailquip becoming a hub for us to develop our position within the APAC region, where the need for efficient logistics solutions is greater than ever,” Hartwall continued. “Furthermore, our intention is to build a future stronghold for Automation in Australia.”

K.Hartwall added that is excited to welcome Retailquip's current management to the K.Hartwall family. Clare Hart-Davies, current Managing Director of Retailquip, along with her management team, will continue to lead the daily operations. Clare and her team share a common goal with K. Hartwall - a commitment to maintaining continuity and reliability for our customers, and to build on the success that Retailquip has achieved in Australia over the last two decades, company leaders added.

“We are a proud family run Australian business, so it was important to us that we retain our strong family values, and we are very excited to be welcomed into the K.Hartwall family,” said Clare Hart-Davies, Managing Director of Retailquip and youngest daughter of Retailquip’s late founder, Tom Hart-Davies. Just over 20 years ago, my father met John Hartwall - and one would argue that the Australian retail and logistics landscape hasn’t been the same since!”

“It is a very exciting time to be a part of the supply chain movement in Australia, and we have a great opportunity here to bring more of that Nordic innovation to our shores,” Hart-Davies continued. “I am confident that our future with K.Hartwall will see us continue to support our customers locally whilst becoming a prominent supplier in the wider APAC region - and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

K.Hartwall was founded in 1932 in Söderkulla, Finland. The company is recognized for providing logistics efficiency for goods delivery and merchandising, including returnable load carriers, electric tugger trains and autonomous mobile robots. The company supplies over 1500 customers in more than 65 countries on all continents.