New fresh fruit and produce service builds on recent acquisitions and expanding network
Lineage Logistics has announced Lineage Fresh, a new strategic service providing fresh storage options for major importers, grocers, and producers of fresh fruit and produce.
Lineage Fresh will allow products with a short shelf-life to face fewer obstacles, less risk, and less spoilage with Lineage’s cold storage technology and leading logistics network.
Leveraging the company’s expertise as a global temperature-controlled provider, Lineage Fresh is designed to cater to businesses in which food safety is critical and speed to market is essential.
The new value-added services and specialised capabilities of Lineage Fresh include re-pack and bagging services, reconditioning, restacking, restyling, container plugs, multi-temperature zones for produce, cold treatment, fumigation, container drayage, and the integration of customs bonded facilities.
“With the launch of Lineage Fresh, we are excited to expand our reach in the fresh produce market, adding dedicated fresh capacity and product expertise to the market, ultimately helping customers capitalise on this growing opportunity,” said Jim Henderson, Lineage Logistics’ vice president of business development.
“This offering will leverage our strategic acquisitions of Sun Valley Cold Storage and Kloosterboer, which bring state-of-the-art assets and years of experience to the organisation, as well as our new port facility in Savannah, Georgia (US) to build a more efficient end-to-end supply chain while addressing capacity concerns that have previously impacted the market.”
To address their needs, Lineage has made significant investments in the space to meet the demands of the fresh market.
Over the past two years, Lineage has focused on value-added services needed to handle fresh fruits and vegetables, namely fresh food storage, repacking, bagging, and transportation.
The company started this venture in June 2021 with the acquisition of Kloosterboer Group, which continues to bring a large, long-standing fresh operation to the Lineage network, with fresh facilities in both Rotterdam and Flushing.
In December 2021, Lineage acquired Sun Valley Cold Storage and its facility in Swedesboro, New Jersey, expanding its presence in the US Tri-State area, where 80 per cent of US produce enters the country.
Sun Valley Cold Storage served the fresh produce market for more than 15 years, with a team of experienced professionals dedicated to handling fresh fruits and vegetables. Lineage is in the process of expanding this facility with 5,000 additional pallets coming online in Q1 2023, leveraging the capacity and expertise of the former Sun Valley and Kloosterboer operations to enhance Lineage’s fresh network globally.
Lineage is building a new, state-of-the-art refrigerated storage facility at the port of Savannah, Georgia expected to open in January 2023, completely dedicated to fresh produce.
The company said Savannah is the fastest-growing port and largest single container terminal in North America, and the new facility will help cut through port congestion to ensure fewer obstacles in maintaining the freshness of the produce.
