Your latest info on all things cold chain
Hello, and welcome to the coolest community in freight! Here you’ll find the latest information on warehouse news, tech developments and all things reefer madness-related. I’m your controller of the thermostat, Mary O’Connell. Thanks for having me!
All thawed out
Cold storage is growing in the desert thanks to Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics’ Reno, Nevada, facility. The facility, built and designed by Ti Cold, is poised to serve major markets in California, Nevada, Utah and the Pacific Northwest. It is one of the first large-scale 3PL cold storage facilities in the Reno market.
According to a news release, “The fully-racked, state-of-the-art facility has five fully convertible rooms with the ability to handle frozen and chilled temperatures from -10 to 40 degrees F. It is also equipped with a 60′ deep refrigerated dock and doors to manage distribution and container handling services. Boasting 254,460 square feet of space, the 37,260 pallet positions are situated in modern 50′ clear height rooms with 6-8 High Pallet Racking, and using EVAPCOLD Low Charge Ammonia refrigeration system that is not only environmentally friendly, but is blast freeze ready in a fully convertible space.”
This is the second facility in recent years Arcadia has had Ti Cold build; the first was in Phoenix. It’s likely this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the duo.
Temperature checks
A state-level effort to improve the supply chain has surfaced with a potential cold storage facility at Pier 11 in Red Hook, Brooklyn. U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, New York State Sen. Andrew Gounards, New York State Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and New York City Councilmember Alexa Aciles wrote a letter to the New York City Economic Development Corp. urging the organization to select a sublease proposal at Pier 11 of the Red Hook Main Terminal that will include cold storage capabilities.
The main driver for this proposal is that produce currently imported into the terminal gets put on trucks immediately for shipment to refrigerated locations outside the city. The Red Hook community has seen an increase in traffic, diesel pollution, excess wear and tear on the roads and expressways, and ultimately safety concerns for pedestrians.
One cold storage facility could improve the community significantly through reduced diesel pollution alone. As more problems like this come to light in the cold chain, it’s going to take stronger collaboration among communities, governments and developers to solve them.
Food and drugs
One new addition to the prepared meals side of things evidently isn’t enough: There are two new offerings coming out — one for frozen foods and one for the refrigerated section.
On the frozen side of things, plant-based seafood company Konscious Foods is adding 10 new products. Everything from salmon and tuna blocks to Korean barbecue mushroom onigiri is hitting the freezer section in 2024.
Yves Potvin, founder and president of Konscious Foods, said, “We are on a mission to help consumers embrace a more plant-based and sustainable diet by breaking the barriers to entry in this category — such as taste and affordability. By bringing our beloved products to more distribution channels, we know more people will be able to embrace a plant-forward lifestyle.”
On the refrigerated side, Real Good Food Co., king of the “better-for-you” options in the freezer aisle, has moved to slightly less cold. The company has come out with a new low-carb burrito: chicken and pepper jack cheese burritos with 31 grams of protein and 13 net grams of carbs.
Bryan Freeman, executive chairman of Real Good Food, said: “Club shoppers today are looking for nutritious foods across all categories and usage occasions, and Real Good Foods is positioned to provide access to these offerings across multiple temperature states and categories.”
Cold chain lanes
This week’s reefer market is booming Jacksonville, Florida. Jacksonville Port Authority has been the leading driver for import volume and subsequently the outbound tender volumes for the market. Reefer outbound tender volumes are finally rising to late-summer levels, whereas reefer outbound tender rejection levels are low at 2.11% compared to the national average rejection rate for reefer loads of 7.34%. That’s a great thing for shippers looking to save a little on freight rates for the end of the year but not an ideal market for carriers looking to end the year with a bang.
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Wanna chat in the cooler? Shoot me an email with comments, questions or story ideas at [email protected].
See you on the internet.
Mary
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