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A hot spot for a cold cube
January 22, 2024
Northfreeze doubles capacity in North Sea Port with new warehouse
Northfreeze, now part of the Cube Cold group, is building a new refrigerated storage facility at one of its three locations within North Sea Port. The new cold storage unit is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2025. The choice of North Sea Port for this major investment is not surprising, says head of sales and network development Fred Compeer. “For cold storage and temperature-controlled activities, North Sea Port offers a combination of factors that is very attractive to customers.”
The greenfield project will grow Northfreeze’s storage capacity in Evergem by 54,000 pallets, doubling the total score in North Sea Port.
Northfreeze is a well-known brand in North Sea Port, with a history dating back to 1995 when it first established a presence in the Ghent port area with a warehouse in Evergem. Nortraffic, its road haulage subsidiary active in FTL and LTL transportation in the Benelux with a fleet of 45 trucks, has been operating since 2004 and moved to a new and larger site closer to the Kluizendok in 2017.
In March last year, the company was acquired by Cube Cold, a relatively new and fast-growing platform of cold storage facilities across strategic areas in Europe (see box). “It was a typical kind of seed asset Cube Cold, as a newcomer in this market, was looking for as a cornerstone of the pan-European cold storage platform it is building,” says head of sales and network development Fred Compeer.
In less than two years time, Cube Cold positioned itself as a growing power in temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics. “We have become a mid-size operator by European standards. Our ambition is not to become the biggest player on the pitch, but we definitely want to have a leading position. What we aim for is to create a strong European-wide network that offers our clients the integrated service they need. We only make acquisitions that fit into this perspective,” Fred Compeer underlines.
New Warehouse
Today, Northfreeze – Cube Cold Belgium – operates three sites in North Sea Port Ghent, plus two smaller facilities in Westerlo and Brugge. Collectively, these locations can store 76,000 pallets, 51,000 of which are designed for frozen goods. The bulk of this capacity (55,000 pallet places) is in Evergem, where the company is active at two locations – in the industrial zone of Durmakker (along the ring canal for inland navigation around Ghent) and on the site of Nortraffic in De Nest (close to the sea canal to Terneuzen).
The upcoming cold storage warehouse in Evergem will increase Northfreeze’s capacity by an additional 54,000 pallets, effectively doubling the current score in North Sea Port. 47,000 positions will be dedicated to frozen storage with a temperature regime of -20°C and 7,000 positions for chilled or controlled ambient storage, depending on the customers’ needs. On top of that, 18,000 pallet places for ambient storage have recently been added to the capacity on the Evergem-Rieme site.
The new warehouse is one of the largest Cube Cold’s current investments, with other expansions planned or commissioned to accommodate growing demand in the Netherlands and the UK, as well as in Brugge and Westerlo.
Low energy, high flexibility
Cube Cold
The new warehouse will be built next to Nortraffic at the De Nest site, where space is still available, unlike at the two sites in Durmakker, which do not have additional land for expansion. The building has been specially designed to reduce the operational carbon footprint, with solar panels on the roof – and possibly a wind turbine – to supply part of the energy needed for cooling.
Maintaining a consistent temperature is vital for refrigerated logistics, so the facility will continuously track and record temperatures to keep all storage zones within the client’s specified ranges. In case of a power outage, backup generators will be available to ensure uninterrupted service. The internal set-up of the warehouse will support both automated and manual operations, tailored to the needs of the customers. CubeCold has finalised the design, applied for the required permits, and is presently in the tendering phase for the construction of its new warehouse. Work is expected to start in early 2024 and the new facility should be ready by the end of Q1 2025. The total investment is expected to exceed EUR 40 million.
Cube Cold focuses on the acquisition and development of existing small to medium-sized operators and facilities across strategic areas.
It started with the take-over of three companies in early 2022: Frigo Breda in the Netherlands, Northfreeze in Belgium, and Pulleyn in the United Kingdom. This year, two Italian companies, Fridock and FrigoCaserta, and one British company, JR Harding & Sons, have been added to the network.
That network now covers 18 facilities that will offer more than
250,000 pallet places when commissioned Greenfield projects (among which Evergem) will be operational. The storage capacity is complemented by an own fleet of 85 reefer trucks. Cube Cold currently employs about 300 coworkers.
CubeCold is looking to expand to other countries. The company has the ambition to grow towards a pallet capacity of more than 700.000 pallets in Europe in the coming years at strategic locations like ports, logistic nods, and area’s with high production and consumption volumes.
“Cube Cold’s ambition is not to become the biggest player on the pitch. What we aim for is to create a strong network that offers our clients the integrated service they need.”
Full range, full service
In terms of markets, Cube Cold focuses on both the food and pharmaceuticals sectors, with products that range from french fries, fruit, dairy, fish, meat & poultry, juices and beverages, pet food, and general food items to plasma and serums, vaccines, consumables, medicines, as well as bulk and finished materials. The product flows are separated where required.
“We do not want to limit ourselves to one segment. And though these two sectors are very different, they have at least one essential thing in common: they are both subject to very strict legislation. This requires a deep understanding of what we are doing and how we need to do it, and also demands high levels of certification,” the head of sales and network development of Cube Cold comments. “Seen from that angle, the two are a match.”
The warehouses accommodate a wide temperature range, going from frozen and chilled to conditioned ambient. The same goes for the services Cube Cold can deliver, with storage, handling, stevedoring, and forwarding complemented with value-added activities like processing, labelling, sorting, and packing. A blast freeze capacity of two truckloads is also included in the concept. “A customer can get a total service or opt for the links in the chain that he needs.”
The range of services includes long-term storage, with Durmakker being the primary facility, fast moving flows, as seen in Rieme, and retail, for which the De Nest warehouse will be more specifically designed.
Strategic Location
“When extending its network, Cold Cube is looking for strategic locations. North Sea Port is a perfect example of a port that offers a lot of advantages for temperature-controlled activities,” Fred Compeer points out.
“We are close to large production and consumption areas in
the hinterland for both food and pharmaceuticals and within range of the largest container ports in Europe, several major air freight platforms, and large fresh markets like Rungis that serves the whole Paris area, to name just one. Both on the import and export side, there are already quite some volumes flowing through this port. Reefer containers constantly come and go and can be reused for import or export, making it possible to offer competitive rates. Highways are nearby and road congestion is low, allowing for quick first and last mile operations. There are border inspection points, several container terminals, and an empty container yard in the immediate vicinity.”
“Add to that the manifold multimodal solutions available: regular barge services to Antwerp and Rotterdam and daily trucking to other destinations, the direct rail connections to countries like Italy and the rail capacity to open new corridors, plus the shortsea links to Sweden, Norway, and the UK. It is a combination of factors that is very attractive to existing and potential users. We strongly believe in North Sea Port as a win/win location for Cube Cold and its customers.”
