Dublin headquartered Toga Group, has joined Europe’s largest logistics network, Astre Europe as shareholder members.
Astre Europe is the central management organisation of Astre Group, which comprises over 160 members, spread across 400 sites, employing over 20,000 staff with combined sales of over €4.2 billion euro, making Astre Europe the largest distribution network in Europe.
The network specializes in tailored transportation and logistics, including the Astre Palet System (for palletized freight across 46 countries), e-commerce, and industrial logistics.
Astre focuses on eco-responsible transport, with initiatives aimed at reducing carbon footprints through fleet optimization and alternative fuels.
Toga Freight Group becomes the first ever member of Astre in the Republic of Ireland and alongside Toga’s depots in Great Britain, will operate daily departures for import and export palletised “groupage” direct to Astre Pallet Systeme’s hub in Paris.
Speaking about this major investment, Group CEO, Robert Dickinson explained: “Since 2022, our presence in Europe has changed beyond recognition. From having 3 partners with weekly departures in 2022, we now load over 120 groupage trailers and containers every week alongside 23 valued partners right across Europe, from Porto in the West to Sofia in the East and from Helsinki in the North to Alicante in the South – we have a strong European presence. However, what Astre offers is so much deeper and broader than a simple partner network. Whether it be their tendering support, CSR and sustainability initiatives, Digital services and e-learning academy or their procurement and business development teams – it is a mighty powerful consortium that we are thrilled to be a part of”
“Of course, whilst we will continue to maintain all our existing partner agreements, Astre enables us to offer unique and bespoke import and export services to our large customer base in Great Britain and Ireland and well as to improve our cost effectiveness in trans-European groupage distribution and our growing cross-trade operations”.
Darragh Toner, Toga Group’s Dublin based Operations Director added: “This is a natural progression for us. We needed to fill in some geographical gaps in our European Network which Astre has allowed us to do but also open up the British Isles to the customers of all Astre’s members who have been seeking a premium distribution solution in the post-Brexit landscape.”
Toga Group’s Commercial Director, Paul Mountford is based in Toga’s UK hub in Birmingham and has no doubt what the reaction will be in the trade and amongst European shippers: “Since Brexit there has been a fear around shipping from mainland Europe into Great Britain and even between Europe and Ireland, as pre-Brexit many supply chains connected to Ireland through Great Britain – a route that became disconnected as a result of Brexit.”
“I can assure you”, Mountford continues, “whether you are shipping between the 27 members of the EU, or the 44 countries in Europe – we have a solution to ensure the experience is very much as it was in the pre-Brexit era. There are no magic tricks involved, just a team of the very best logistics and customs operators that are available”.
Toga Group’s announcement that they have acquired shares in Astre Europe is the second of five new “business units” that will be announced in 2026 and follows the formal opening of Toga Freight Services (Asia) LLC in Vietnam in February 2026.