Agro builds meat storage facility in Rotterdam
Dutch company Agro provides 55 cold chain storage sites across the US, South America and Europe. All are set up to help businesses manage the transport of products from one country to another, and the new site in Rotterdam gives meat companies a facility in the heart of Europe’s shipping centre.
Development of the 9,000sq m cold storage facility on the Maasvlakte area began in February and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The new building will have storage capacity for over 18,000 pallets and will focus primarily on the handling and storage of chilled and frozen products.
Eco-efficient
The facility is also being built to achieve the highest energy efficiency rating for cold storage facilities in Europe, known as the BREEAM certification. This falls within Agro’s commitment to be more environmentally sustainable by reducing CO2 emissions.
“We are extremely excited to build a new facility that will provide industry leading solutions in the Port of Rotterdam,” said Carlos Rodriguez, president of Agro Merchants Group, in a press statement. “This is phase one of the development in which we expect to double capacity in the next two years. Veterinary inspection point facilities, along with other related services, will be relocated to this site from Coldstore Wibaco.”
Blast freezing capabilities
Agro is located 100km north-west of Rotterdam in Barneveld, but it has never had a storage facility in the shipping port. “This new facility comes out of our understanding of what our customers want,” said Kasper Hansen, Europe business development manager at Agro Merchants Group. “Through our work over many years with frozen and fresh meat customers, we have understood there is a specific need for space in Rotterdam as our customers have said they need space here.”
The new site in Rotterdam will also feature a mobile racking system and a pallet conveyor system, with additional space for blast freezing and tempering capabilities. It will also include an on-site border inspection point, crucial for businesses importing live animals or products with animal traces.
