Bakers Basco – the bakery equipment solution set up by five of the UK’s largest plant bakers for transporting bread and morning goods – has reported an increase of over 50% in the number of bread baskets and dollies recovered in the second half of 2020 compared to the first six months of the year.

At the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, Bakers Basco invested an additional ￡1m worth of equipment into the system for bakers to address the increased demand for bread and baked goods. ?Panic buying during the first national lockdown had piled on additional pressure on the supply chain to deliver essential food supplies across the UK.

Initially, many household waste and recycling centre locations temporarily halted the collection of some or all recyclable materials, leading to blockages and a build-up of equipment in the supply chain.

This meant that Bakers Basco’s equipment was left unused for longer periods of time, increasing the chances of theft or misappropriation of the equipment.

However, as lockdown restrictions started to ease, the company’s recovery team was able to recover 54% more Omega baskets, along with 41% more Omega dollies than it had in the first six months of the year.

At the same time, it saw a 53% increase in the total number of visits made by its dedicated recovery team, resulting in improved attrition rates towards the end of 2020, which it hopes will continue into 2021.