New Zealand post-harvest kiwifruit operator Seeka Kiwifruit Industries is partnering with international and local businesses to construct a coolstore hub in southern of Malaysia, the Fresh Fruit Portal reports.
Shares in the project will be held equally between local distributor AQV Fresh Produce, port services provider Terminal Access and Capespan subsidiary Metspan, as wel as Seeka.
The planned coolstore area is set to be 30,000ft²(9,144m²) and will be the only chilled facility in the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), a rapidly expanding economic free zone in the Johor Bahru region.
The first stage of the facility is scheduled to be finished in the next three months, with aims of final completion within one year.
“The facility provides a great infra-structure resource to New Zealand horticultural and produce exporters,” Seeka CEO Michael Franks is reported as saying in a company press release.
“Not only can parties store their produce at the facility, but also market their fruit in a ready to retail configuration through our partner distribution channels if they wish.
““The facility will provide marketers and distributors with the opportunity to improve supply chain logistics and costs in a part of the world where temperature and climate was challenging.”
He added that the location of the coolstore hub made it ideal for business in the surrounding region, with the PTP only 30 minutes from Singapore and Indonesia and Hong Kong easily accessible.
At present, Seeka sells kiwifruit in Malaysia through a collaborative marketing arrangement with world-leading kiwifruit marketer Zespri.
