Business, Freight News, Logistics

NewCold Opens $90M High-Tech Cold-Storage Facility

[ June 27, 2019   //   Gary G Burrows ]

NewCold, the Netherlands-based specialist in automated cold storage, announced the grand opening of its $90 million, 180,000-sq. ft. facility in Burley, Idaho. It is one of the largest cold storage warehouses in the nation.

NewCold’s Burley facility, which took 25,000 tons of steel to construct, is using advanced conveyance and stacking technology to load and store frozen food pallets. French fry maker McCain Foods, which recently underwent a $200 million expansion in Burley, is NewCold’s largest Idaho customer.

“This is NewCold’s second U.S. operation and one of the largest cold-storage facilities of its kind,” said NewCold U.S. Director Jonas Swarttouw, who made the announcement at the 2019 Select USA Summit in Washington, D.C. “Due to its concentration of food processing companies, strong labor force, and good supplier and government partnerships, NewCold chose Idaho for one of the most innovative and efficient frozen-food centers in the country.”

The new warehouse stands at over 14 stories tall – with a cubic, vertical layout optimal for pallet storage. Its sleek, efficient design cuts down energy consumption by up to half the rate of traditional warehouses. In fact, the facility’s high bay – not accessible by facility workers – is kept dark, slashing electricity usage.

The cutting-edge facility nears a short-line rail facility which will be used to ship approximately 15% of NewCold’s stored foods. The remaining loads will be trucked to food-service clients or other warehouses.

The warehouse stores foods at -5 degrees Fahrenheit, with oxygen levels lowered to 16.5 percent for fire prevention. NewCold’s employees work from a low bay area to oversee the shipment process, and a pick floor, where orders are fulfilled, and additional services are provided.

NewCold currently has facilities in Australia, France, Germany, Poland, Tacoma, Wash., and the U.K.

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