Casa Julia - specialist Italian drink and food specialists use Olivo containers

Casa Julia - specialist Italian drink and food specialists use Olivo containers

In 1976, Enzo Santomauro started importing fine Italian wines for a small selection of restaurants in Essex and London. This business developed steadily over the years and, today, is based in a very smart modern distribution centre in Braintree, Essex.

There are 50 employees (including five sales representatives) and they have a fleet of 12 vehicles making daily deliveries to restaurants, hotels and caterers mainly in the London area. Italian wines are still an important part of the business but this has expanded to include a wide range of wines, spirits and soft drinks. In February 2011 they added a range of mainly Italian food products, some of which are temperature sensitive - hence the use of an Olivo BAC chest type container with eutectic plate refrigeration to maintain the required temperature of the products.

Lorna Felton is the director responsible for purchasing and sales and assisted by Ela Dysinska. They confirmed that the business is founded on reliable and prompt service and will even provide back-up deliveries over and above the main ones in the early mornings to assist their customers who may have made an ordering error or need extra products in a hurry. Lorna commented: “We deliver through the door to our customers and make sure they don’t run out of stock”.

A major customer is the Cote chain of 30 restaurants. She commented also that they have made contingency plans to cope with both the potential increased demand for the Olympic Games period as well as the relevant traffic congestion problems. Ela confirmed that they are very happy with the Olivo container and it is performing exactly as required.