Economic Crisis? What Crisis?
Coldstore Investments Continue

Isocab’s insulated wall and ceiling panels are found on many cold storage warehouses in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

An aerial view of the site in Gloucester, United Kingdom, which Partner Logistics opened last April for the warehousing and distribution of Wall’s brand ice cream products. At the right side of the facility is Unilever’s production site. The coldstore has enough capacity to handle 72,000 pallets.

“We have been busy as usual, especially with cold storage projects in Belgium, Holland and the United Kingdom. Fortunately, the economic crisis seems to be affecting the frozen food production sector less than expected,” said Piet Benoit, sales manager of Harelbeke-Bavikhove, Belgium-based Isocab NV.

The supplier of insulated wall and roof panels has also been active elsewhere in the EU and further afield, outfitting coldstores and production plants from Germany and Russia to Vietnam and the Philippines.

“Many coldstore operators and frozen food companies want to invest in expansion at this time, but sometimes financing can slow things down. So it may take more time that usual to get approvals,” pointed out Benoit. “Then again, the process is relatively quick for those with a dedicated customer base who can assure steady throughput and cash flow.”

Among major jobs last year for Isocab, a unit of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG, was the installation of panels at a 77,000-pallet-place warehouse in Wisbech, England. Scheduled to open early this year, it is operated by the Partner Logistics Europe BV for distribution of Lamb Weston/Meijer frozen potato products, Pinguin brand frozen vegetables, and Birds Eye frozen fish and other convenience items.

Prior to that assignment, Isocab completed a big project at Unilever’s Wall’s ice cream distribution center in the UK, which opened last April. Another job, closer to home in Ieper, Belgium, involved a 337,000-square-meter, 65,000 pallet position capacity facility that warehouses frozen vegetables and ice cream produced respectively by PinguinLutosa and YSCO. It opened in August of 2008.

“The erection of the 200mm-thick polyurethane walls, measuring 140 meters long and 37 meters high, was executed with foamed-in Omega profiles so there are no visible fixings on the outside. In this way, a cold bridge free erection was guaranteed,” explained Thomas Bossuyt, Isocab’s sales and marketing manager. “The panels were installed in lengths of plus or minus 17,000mm.”

Partner Logistics Now Runs Three Sites in UK

Meanwhile, last Spring Partner Logistics Europe acquired the refrigerated warehouse from which Unilever previously handled its distribution for the UK.

“In Hams Hall, near Birmingham, we operated a 10-year-old fully automated coldstore for Birds Eye until they moved to Wisbech. We are currently in contact with several frozen food companies to start services from Hams Hall from mid-2010 onwards,” Piet Meijs, head of business development at Partner Logistics, told Quick Frozen Foods International.

“With the opening of Gloucester, the acquisition of Hams Hall and the site in Wisbech, we have become an important logistics service provider in the United Kingdom,” he concluded.