Anne Saris took to the Logistics Hub stage at Fruit Logistica to explain the vision behind Rotterdam Food Hub
Day two at Fruit Logistica in Berlin saw Anne Saris head up a session on the Port of Rotterdam and the new Rotterdam Food Hub.
The Hub is an innovative, state-of-the-art reefer logistics centre set to shake up fresh produce handling in Rotterdam.
With a focus on specialised services to cater for increased container traffic, the site promises to enhance the reliability and efficiency of international fresh produce shipments via Europe’s largest container port.
Saris highlighted some of the challenges the supply chain faced, including decarbonisation, geopolitical issues, climate change and digitalisation.
“At the same time, there is a growing container market,” she explained. ”If you look at the ports between Hamburg and Le Havre, there is going to be required extra capacity of 16mn TEUs, and Rotterdam will take about 8mn of that. This means we have to grow another 50 per cent in the next ten years.”
The port was changing to adapt to modern shipping, Saris noted, with a higher volume of containers requiring specialised handling and terminals.
To ensure infrastructure and capacity is in place at Rotterdam, some terminals at the port were expanding, she confirmed, while certain waterways were deepening to cater for large vessels.
In addition, Maersk recently opened a coldstore at its terminal for fresh and frozen produce.
”You really see that there is more room for the coldstore business at the port,” Saris outlined. ”Clients are looking more and more for smart solutions for perishables, and the port is an excellent location as they can choose different modalities for their supply chain.”
Turning her attention to the Rotterdam Food Hub, she said that it covered an area of around 60 hectares, and was designed for small to mid-sized vessels with lots of reefer containers on deck.
“These reefers need a lot of inspections, and what we are doing is designing this area to ensure not only a secure handling of the cargo, but also a reliable and efficient service,” she noted. “These products cannot wait for a week to be released by customs.
“It takes a lot of handling and a lot of time, so we are designing this whole terminal to make reefer cargo is the key.”
