This Week's Top Five Stories in Supply Chain

The Estée Lauder Companies: Strengthening UK Supply Chains

The Estée Lauder Companies, founded in 1946, has grown into the second largest cosmetics company in the world.

As the company celebrates the 60th anniversary of its Whitman facility in Petersfield, England, it has announced the strengthening of its UK manufacturing supply chain.

ELC is integrating capabilities from one of its longstanding partners, Contract Candles, gaining more possibility for its research and development capabilities. 

Kraft Heinz: How End-to-End Visibility Drives Resilience

While facing ongoing disruption across the world, businesses need to have confidence in their own supply chains. For a multinational company like Kraft Heinz, this can be incredibly difficult.

As the third-largest food and beverage company in North America, the company has an expansive supply chain. This puts it at risk of disruption and supply chain fragmentation.

To avoid this, end-to-end visibility is key. Gaining these insights allows businesses to see which suppliers are at risk and how they can gain more control over their supply chain.

4flow Optaire: AI-Driven Supply Chain Orchestration

Recently named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Specialist Supply Chain Strategy, Planning and Operations Consulting, 4flow is working to redefine how businesses can connect strategy to real-time decisions.

The company has launched optaire, a modular and AI-native platform which is built to enable end-to-end supply chain and logistics optimisation.

In today's volatile environment, businesses need to respond faster than ever to disruption. optaire aims to help businesses respond faster and develop resilience.

Inside Haleon's Indian Healthcare Supply Chain Expansion

As supply chains around the world continue to expand, Haleon has turned to India. 

The company is paying attention to one of its fastest-growing markets and investing into the country, building a new manufacturing site to accelerate distribution efforts.

Haleon is working to meet rising demand, gain supply chain resilience and support supply across Asia with a £175m (US$234.4m) investment. 

Q&A: Ethan Cooze, Au Vodka on Portfolio Expansion

In today's world, it can be difficult to establish a new brand in amongst the global giants. Au Vodka, however, is one of the fastest-growing spirit brands in the UK. 

The beverage company is expanding its presence and making its way into the US market, using innovations and collaborations in order to reach a wider consumer base.

Known for its shiny gold bottles, Au Vodka is taking off with its ready-to-drink (RTD) can selections, working to deliver bold flavours to its customer base.

Supply Chain Digital spoke to Ethan Cooze, the Supply Chain Director at Au Vodka, about the company's expansion and ongoing plans to innovate.

In his role, Ethan lead the end-to-end supply chain and operations function, ensuring the company has strong supplier partnerships and the operational capabilities to ensure long-lasting growth.