Capespan has announced that it is to move its European fruit storage and distribution activity from Vlissingen to Kloosterboer's recently opened Cool Port logistics facility at Waalhaven, Rotterdam Port.
The decision to move is in line with Capespan’s focus to provide its customers with wider and more efficient service solutions, explained the company's supply chain manager Danny Simons.
The transition, which will be completed by the end of November, will allow Capespan to utilise a state-of-the-art facility boasting a 40,000 pallet capacity from cooling to deep-freeze, 38 dock shelters and a 7,500m² dedicated service area.
Under the same roof, Cool Port Packing BV offers a wide range of value-added services, with new machinery allowing Capespan to repack its fruit into smaller consumer oriented packaging, as required by its customers.
Situated on the water, Cool Port offers daily barge services from the deep-sea terminals to its warehouse, with the waterside location also offering possibilities for distribution by shortsea to markets such as Scandinavia and the Baltic States.
Capespan pointed out that Cool Port is also directly connected to the main motorways and railways, offering it multiple logistical solutions for distribution to remote European locations.
“Capespan, in its pursuit to deliver an optimal service to its market and grower customers, has to continuously re-invent and refine its business model to remain relevant in an ever changing environment,' added Leon van Biljon, chief executive of Capespan Fruit. 'It therefore remains focused on improving, streamlining and simplifying its service offering to create more value for all its stakeholders.'
Kloosterboer's Cool Port Rotterdam facility took delivery of its first containers of fruit in May this year – a consignment consisting of pallets of fresh pomegranates imported by Total Produce BV.
“The Cool Port project is an innovative, logistics solution which incorporates barging, automated process management and information provision in the supply chain,” Kloosterboer chief executive Jaco Hooij told reporters at the time, describing the project as a “big step forward” for the company.
“The location has proved attractive and we can already conclude that Cool Port is a great success. Even before the doors were opened 80 per cent of the storage space had already been reserved resulting in the need for and reality of Cool Port II growing one step closer.”
