Lidl, the giant European budget supermarket chain, has registered a new container shipping company with plans to take a sizeable chunk of its transport needs from existing carriers. Tailwind Shipping Lines is the name of Lidl’s new company, according to registration information at the European Trademark Office.

“The goal is to be able to manage the increased volume of different production facilities more flexibly in the long term,” Wolf Tiedemann, who heads up logistics operations for the German retailer, told German logistics title VerkehrsRundschau.

Lidl operates around 11,200 stores and is active in 32 countries, recently entering the US market.

During the global supply chain crunch experienced during the pandemic a host of well-known retail names including Ikea, Walmart and Home Depot opted to charter in their own ships.

Chinese furniture manufacturer Loctek Ergonomic went a step further this January, ordering a 1,800 teu boxship new build from Huanghai Shipbuilding for a swift delivery in the first quarter of next year.