Chill – Innovative solutions for a range of services

The magic begins with a bold dream
Back in 2000, brother and sister combo Andrew and Lauren Wade had a dream: to shake up the transport, storage and logistics industry by providing a smarter, friendlier and more personalised service. Armed with persistence, integrity and the type of “can do” attitude that helped David slay Goliath, they took a flying leap into the unknown and quickly began to deliver the goods. Their clients immediately noticed a big difference. Not only were their projects running smoothly, but they were actually having fun in the process. They couldn’t get enough.

Chill responded by creating more cool things and investing in custom-built systems, vehicles and facilities to service the ever-growing demand. By consistently exceeding clients’ expectations, Chill has built a stellar reputation in the industry. From modest beginnings renting mobile cool rooms for weddings and parties, Chill is now the only company in the Southern Hemisphere to provide clients with end-to-end solutions, including cold/frozen/dry storage, transport, vehicle and refrigeration equipment rental, promotional logistics and production of out-of-home experiential marketing activities of all shapes and sizes.
Through the years, Chill’s core philosophy has remained the same: consistently deliver excellent customer service with a friendly personal touch and take a smart approach to difficult problems.

Product sampling made fun

FMCG manufacturers and agencies rely on Chill to provide a wide range of services needed to make their sampling efforts effortless. If you have ever sampled a temperature controlled product over the last decade, chances are Chill managed the background of the operation. Even if you haven’t seen them, Chill’s team members are behind the scenes to ensure every project runs smoothly. The combined experience of the staff is tremendous, and the company only hires people who are passionate about their work and can deliver outstanding service each and every time. Chill might make it look easy, but according to Managing Director Andrew Wade, “Sampling is a lot harder than it looks. In order for it to be successful, you can’t just have a great idea; you need to actually deliver on it with meticulous precision, which is why agencies use us. We help deliver their ideas and then make them happen. Our clients tell us that before they used Chill, they used to lie awake at night sweating about the logistics involved in sampling, which is not surprising when you consider how much could go wrong. It’s a tricky process involving lots of planning, preparation, trial runs and seamless delivery down to the last detail.”
You see Andrew is a problem solver, an ideas man who has been called upon by some of the biggest brands in the world, including Uber, Nescafé, Chia Co and Top Shop, to help them bring their products into the hands of the consumer.
Chill actively listens during the briefing process and then fosters a personal relationship with each client, and it’s this personal touch that makes the journey both rewarding and fun for all involved.

It’s kind of cool to do the impossible

At Chill, nothing is impossible. It’s exactly this mindset that has lead Chill to create and deliver some pretty amazing things along the way. Chill is relentless when it comes to finding the perfect solution for any given challenge. Tell the folks at Chill that something is impossible, and they will invariably find several ways to prove you wrong.
Chill has become a major player in the pop-up movement of experiential marketing. Through the years, Chill has designed, built and operated numerous mobile marketing “Smart Solutions” that consistently deliver the “wow” factor, whilst freeing clients from the overwhelming task of juggling numerous logistical components. From van fit outs to trailer conversions to custom creations such as refurbishing a 1978 classic Mr. Whippy vehicle, Chill has a real knack for creating truly memorable activations of all shapes and sizes that stretch as far as your imagination.
Another example of this “can do” attitude can be seen in the way Chill approaches technology. “When you have everything under your own control, delivering outstanding results is almost entirely your own responsibility,” Andrew explains. “Relying on others is inflexible and sometimes even detrimental to excellence. For this reason, we have been working with local and offshore experts to build our own Transport Management System, (TMS), Warehouse Management System (WMS) , Rental Management System (RMS) and Learning Management System (LMS) software that will be the foundation of how we do things at Chill.”
After winning the contract to launch the subscription-based meal kit business My Food Bag amongst many others, Chill quickly learned that B2C deliveries were different and especially difficult due to limited parking and tight inner city streets. To address this situation, Chill went from the streets to the drawing board and before long started building their own vehicle bodies exactly as they would like them to be. Under the leadership of Ian Nicholson, Chill’s in-house production team in Brisbane developed and redesigned a new vehicle body to fit a cab chassis truck along with a small ute body. Each was deisgned to have big steps side doors on both sides of the body along with a swag of additional benefits and features delivering top of class quality. As a result, Chill now manufacturers and sells a new range of re-imagined refrigerated trucks and utes that offers innovations born from real life experience.

Refreshing company culture

At the heart of Chill’s success are the employees who form the “Chill Family.” They are Chill’s greatest asset and Chill’s biggest competitive advantage. Chill attracts and retains the best employees by fostering a company culture that rewards passion, individuality, determination and hard work. Employees are empowered to make a difference by actively engaging in the business, and then they are recognised for their contributions. When challenges arise, the Chill family stands united as one and quickly works through a solution. People need to have respect for one another in the workplace and that’s something that you can easily see in Chill. As a result, Chill gets the best out of their employees.
Andrew explains “If our people love their work, are plugged in and engaged, work in a dynamic team environment where knowledge and ideas are shared freely among all, from the Special Ops drivers to senior management, all the other things, like delivering the wow to our customers, will continuously improve business and move the company forward.” Andrew offered an example of how his company targets specific goals and sets out to conquer them: “We set out some pretty big goals. One of them was to double in size in twelve to eighteen months. In order to preserve culture, quality and attention to detail whilst we sustain that growth, we had to make sure that our foundations were rock solid. So we spent the last year building and reinforcing those first by of investing in technology, R&D and people. There was a solid amount of growth to achieve, and so we devised an internal program called ‘Our Road Map to Awesomeness’ and focused heavily on those areas.” Now we are about to launch that growth phase in Summer 2017 and we are pumped.”

This philosophy permeates every part of Chill’s business. When there’s a project at hand, the team members are expected to put their creative force into work and deliver outstanding results. Though not every client may realise this, those who understand the process and witness the results respect Chill for the way it operates. In turn, they are much more likely to recommend the company in the future, and that great reputation is a key part of the business.
“When we speak to new clients, they often have horror stories of what they’ve experienced in the industry. Those unfortunate circumstances that they’ve had seem to be very common. Our view is to go out there and create something that is refreshingly different,” says Andrew.

Chill’s future looks very bright

Chill is not the type of company that will rest on its laurels just because things are going well. On the contrary, Chill thrives on constantly challenging the status quo to deliver smarter ways of doing things. “For us, innovation is a mindset,” says Andrew. “It’s crucial. In fact, it is the cornerstone of our vision to revolutionise the transport industry. At Chill, innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. The creation of new products, systems and experiences are achieved when all departments and industry leaders collaborate and work together as a team. Constantly moving forward is the only way to stay fresh, relevant and on top of the industry.” This thinking has enabled Chill to disrupt the market on a national basis and become a standout player in transport and logistics.
Creating a truly sustainable business is the ultimate goal and almost everything that the company does contributes towards that goal in one way or another. With a team of dedicated people and a company culture that sparks innovation and rewards it, the future of Chill looks bright indeed.