Colruyt Group has announced that it will be shipping several containers of citrus each week from Spain via Cool Rail, a new rail link for fresh produce between Valencia and the Port of Cologne in Germany.
According to the Belgium-based retail group, trucks will transport the containers to its distribution centre in Halle and return to Cologne with empty crates.
Cool Rail link is a sustainable alternative to road transport, with each container travelling 83 per cent fewer truck kilometres, which results in a 70 per cent reduction in CO2.
On the same site that the citrus fruit is unloaded, the containers are loaded with freshly washed EPS (Euro Pool System) folding crates for transport back to Cologne.
“So the containers are always fully loaded for every journey,” says import project leader Wim Verghote. “In addition, the combined Valencia-Cologne-Halle journey only takes one more day than doing the entire journey by truck. So the freshness of the produce is guaranteed.”
Eventually, Cool Rail will also be able to transport other fresh produce, such as broccoli and lettuce, from Valencia to Cologne for Colruyt Group.
In November, two trains will run each week, with the aim of increasing this to five per week as more partners join the initiative.
For Colruyt Group, Cool Rail matches its pursuit of more sustainable international transport, including switching from road transport to rail and maritime transport.
“We are pleased that we can be part of this initiative,” continues Wim Verghote, “and we continue to look for new opportunities to reduce the impact of our freight transport further.”
Cool Rail is an international initiative with six partners from the retail, logistics and transport sectors in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
“It’s remarkable that so many partners could get together to work on more sustainable transport. Hopefully, this initiative will inspire others to take action,' he adds.
Cool Rail was launched by the Dutch fruit and vegetable wholesaler Bakker Barendrecht and the Euro Pool System logistics company, and is supported by the Port of Rotterdam.
In addition to Colruyt Group, retailers Albert Heijn and Edeka (Germany) are also involved.
