Watco Logistics, MID-Ship Marine Connect to Get NYC Bagels to London

When an exciting opportunity came that would involve his company’s first international shipment, the co-owner of an acclaimed New York City bagel company found trusty partners in MID-Ship Marine and Watco Logistics.

Utopia Bagels, based in Queens, was invited to operate temporarily as a guest of London street vendor Truffle Burger. For four weeks, Utopia was to occupy the gourmet burger business’ pop-up space next to its regular spot on the south bank of the River Thames. Four weeks’ worth of bagels? That’s 24,000 of the ring-shaped rolls.

It was a big step, but fortunately for Utopia’s Jesse Spellman, he knew where to start. He reached out to longtime friend Chris D’Auria, an operations manager for MID-Ship Marine in Port Washington, New York.

“Jesse knows what I do,” D’Auria said. “But because we specialize in dry bulk commodities, we’ll handle special projects like this through our network of people and resources.” Those resources include the Watco Logistics Ocean & Air (international) division. “We knew they were well-equipped to handle the unique project of transporting 24,000 bagels on a transatlantic voyage.”

Davis Nunneley, Watco’s manager of international, helped spearhead the bagel project. “Once we knew the stakeholders,” he said, “it was kind of just guiding the customer getting into a new market. Utopia Bagels had never shipped overseas, and we were kind of their right arm.” Still, Nunneley said that since his group’s typical shipments are industrial materials “without a shelf-life,” he was a bit nervous about the food-grade product. But he relied on Watco Logistics team members like Cameron Bradley, general manager, who assisted with locating the necessary cold-storage transloading option.

Using its in-house delivery operation, Utopia sent 10 pallets of frozen bagels from a Queens warehouse to the transloader. They were responsible for packing 400 bagel-filled boxes in a refrigerated container (maintaining the necessary 10-degree temperature) with the proper blocking and bracing to prevent shifting during transit. The container was put aboard a vessel that left port July 7.

Tracking the shipment was the job of Watco Supply Chain Coordinator Erica Benson. “My part was being the ‘eyes on the water,’” she said. “I kept track of the shipment’s progress, watching for updates, and made sure the customer always knew exactly where their cargo was and when it was expected to arrive at Southampton Port.”

The cargo arrived July 20. The next day, Invictus Global Logistics delivered the bagels to the pop-up space. “They are the ones who ensured customs and the final-mile delivery of these bagels went smoothly,” said Nunneley.

Utopia operated the short-term London storefront July 24 through August 24. They served their signature hand-rolled, kettle-boiled bagels with plain or scallion cream cheese, butter, and jam. Also on the menu: Utopia Bagels sandwiches like the pastrami-packed New Yorker or the Worth It, with salmon, cream cheese, tomato, onion, and capers between bagel buns.

Spellman reflected on the venture with satisfaction.

“It was great. Everything was smooth. It was incredible working with Davis and Chris and such an experienced team, and we’d love to do more business with Watco just based off the experience we had.”