Archive For The “News” Category
The Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in Philadelphia welcomed two super Post-Panamax container cranes from China that arrived recently.
The arrival marks another important milestone in the comprehensive modernization project underway at Packer Avenue, according to a news release.
The arrival highlights a key competitive advantage for shippers looking to improve time to market on the East Coast of the U.S.
PhilaPort has seen a 166 percent container growth in the past decade, and in 2018 handled a record 600,000 20-foot-equivalent units.
“Our terminal is currently under capacity, meaning we could handle rerouted surplus bound for nearby congested terminals immediately without blinking an eye,” David Whene, president of Greenwich Terminals, operator of the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, said in the release.
“With ship productivity as high as 140 gross moves per hour, turn-times of under 40 minutes, and an abundance of available chassis, Packer Avenue offers carriers unparalleled efficiency in reaching the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond.”
With a $300 million public-private investment in the terminal, the release said Packer Avenue is a model of 21st century port operations.
According to the release, the upcoming completion of the Delaware River Deepening Project will provide a full 45-foot shipping channel through Philadelphia, allowing vessels as large as 14,500 TEUs to traverse into the port.
That deepening project is timed perfectly with the arrival of the new super Post-Panamax cranes, bringing the total operational cranes on the terminal to six (a seventh will arrive in August).
The gain in capacity will lead to improvements on the 40-minute turn times for containers coming in and out, according to the release.
“We have always known that PhilaPort’s market potential was significantly greater than reflected in past volumes,” PhilaPort CEO Jeff Theobald said.
“Now with our capital improvements nearing their completion, shippers should know that we have excess capacity and that we are open for new business.”
Lane Southern Orchards, a major peach grower and shipper based in Fort Valley, GA, is doubling the capacity of its packinghouse in a $4 million project to be completed before the 2019 season.
By the early summer peach harvest, the renovated and expanded facility will allow the company to pack 23,000 25-pounds boxes a day, putting Lane’s seasonal capacity at 3 million boxes.
Technology upgrades to grading and sorting processes is also included, along with improved cold storage and shipping and receiving facilities, according to a news release.
A Durand-Wayland robotic bin handling system, designed to be gentle on the peaches, will streamline efficiencies in the packinghouse.
International Farming Corp. purchased Lane Southern Orchards in 2015, and the peach company’s CEO, Mark Sanchez, said it has been a “great partner.”
“They understand the culture of farming and have given us the opportunity for tremendous growth,” Sanchez said in the release. “The ability to enhance our facilities to create best-in-class efficiencies and quality control is the latest example of that growth.”
In 2018, Lane Southern Orchards and Taylor Orchards of Reynolds, GA merged, combining peach/pecan acreage, facilities and innovation. A surge in plantings in 2018 and this year brings the total acreage of peaches and nuts to more than 10,000.
“The complete renovation of the original Lane facility with new technology allows us to easily handle the additional supply of peaches and be a better supplier to our existing customers while we expand our customer base,” Duke Lane III, director of sales for Lane Southern Orchards, said in the release.
Walmart will be adding hundreds of more truck drivers this year after adding 1400 drivers in 2018.
The company reports assessments, mentorship and a faster hiring process are all a part of new onboarding events that are filling critical new jobs created by Walmart’s business growth during an industry-wide driver shortage.
“These hiring events are both improving the skill level of our candidates and enriching their onboarding experience,” Lori Furnell, Walmart’s director of driver talent acquisition, said in a press release.
“We’re leaning heavily on the expertise of our Walmart road team and our certified driver trainers to grow our skilled fleet of professional drivers,” she said.
Walmart is raising driver wages, accounting for a one-cent-per-mile increase and additional pay for every arrival.
Walmart drivers will now earn on average $87,500 a year and with an all-in rate close to 89 cents per mile, according to the release.
Furnell said Walmart is transforming its hiring process to give applicants the opportunity to learn the “Walmart way.”
The release said two centralized locations — Casa Grande, AZ., and Lauren, S.C. — serve as week-long onboarding facilities for new hires to observe veteran drivers and then practice those skills “the Walmart way.”
Targeted one-on-one mentoring from veteran drivers has been introduced in the new way that Walmart hires, according to the company.
The revamped orientation initiatives have already cut in half the time between a candidate’s initial interview and a mandatory driving assessment, according to the release.
To be hired by Walmart, drivers must meet Walmart’s high minimum standards for its private fleet drivers, which includes 30 months of experience in the past three years and a clean safety record, according to the release.
Henry Avocado Corp. of Escondido, CA., has moved about 7 miles across town to a spacious west side location after being on the east side of town for 94 years.
The two-story, 50,000-square-foot headquarters facility includes a packinghouse and distribution center. It is located in an industrial center and is close to two major thoroughfares — the Interstate 15 Freeway, which runs north and south, and State Route 78, which runs east and west.
The new building is 20 percent larger than the previous facility and has the latest processing, refrigeration and forced-air ripening elements in the industry.
The move allows the consolidation the administrative and processing machinery and personnel, all of which were in several buildings at the old location.
It includes 6,000 square feet of office space, 20 forced-air ripening rooms and 5 loading docks.
The facility also has a modern cold storage facility and a large yard for tractor trailers.
The move started in late summer and was just completed.
The company continues to operate a second 29,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Escondido.
Henry Avocado can ship 2 million cartons of avocados from the 2 facilities annually.
The original Escondido facility will be demolished to make room for a housing development, but the firm will continue to farm in the upper elevations.
The company, a year-round avocado grower-shipper, operates seven Primus Labs-certified distribution centers throughout the U.S. with a total of 100 ripening rooms.
Vegetable grower Village Farms International recently completed conversion of 1.1 million square feet of greenhouse area in a partnership with cannabis company Pure Sunfarms in Canada. It is now ready pursue hemp and Cannabidiol (CBD) oil production at its U.S. facilities.
The company has filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to list common shares on the NASDAQ Capital Market under “VFF,” according to a news release.
“As a company with substantive U.S. assets and operations and, with our recently announced intention to aggressively pursue potential opportunities in the now federally legal U.S.
hemp and CBD industry, the listing of our common shares on NASDAQ is intended to provide broader exposure to, and greater liquidity for, U.S. investors,” CEO Michael DeGiglio said in the release. “A NASDAQ listing will provide Village Farms with access to the largest equity market in the world to support our intended hemp and CBD growth strategy should U.S. state laws follow the U.S. federal decision to legalize hemp, as well as, potentially, for cannabis, in the event that it is federally legalized in the U.S.”
In anticipation of the recent passage of the farm bill, which includes the Hemp Farming Act, the company has undertaken “broad and extensive foundational work to ensure Village Farms can move quickly, aggressively and profoundly,” DeGiglio said in another news release. The Hemp Farming Act federally legalizes hemp and hemp products in the U.S., including extracts, derivatives and cannabinoids.
Pure Sunfarms is waiting for Health Canada to approve 344,000 square feet for cultivation of cannabis, bringing the total to just over 1 million square feet at its Delta, B.C. facility.
The company’s January 2019 Investor Presentation almost focuses solely on cannabis/hemp/CBD opportunities.
According to the presentation, Pure Sunfarms has options on Village Farms’ Delta, British Columbia vegetable greenhouses, which total 3.7 million square feet. The Texas vegetable greenhouses (four facilities totaling 5.7 million square feet/130 acres) can be rapidly converted to hemp or cannabis (upon federal legalization), according to the presentation.
Village Farms is the sole owner of the Texas facilities, but would benefit from experience gained in the 50-50 venture with Pure Sunfarms in Canada, according to the presentation.
The company also has vegetable-growing partnerships in Mexico, and in Ontario and British Columbia.
A broad coalition of fruit and vegetable and other agricultural industry groups have petitionedd the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to modify the Hours of Service and Electronic Logging Device rules for perishable fruit and vegetable commodities.
The requested modifications to the hours of service and electronic logging device regulations will give increased flexibility to truck drivers for the delivery of perishable commodities, according to a news release.
A total two dozen groups asked for the following changes to the hours of service rules:
- Add an allowance for drivers to rest at any point during their trip without counting this rest time against their HOS allotments;
- Exclude loading and unloading times from the 14-hour on-duty HOS calculations; and
- Allow drivers to complete their trip, regardless of HOS requirements, if they come within 150 air miles of their delivery point.
The petition takes into consideration the safety of both the driver and consumer to deliver produce while following U.S. Department of Agriculture requirements.
The groups said current hours of service and ELD regulations contribute to higher volumes of food waste resulting from delays in shipping and delivery.
“Modifying the HOS and ELD regulations for perishable commodities will better align FMCSA with the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Rule, which spells out food safety requirements,” the news release said.
Hours of service rules do not allow a driver to turn off the ELD when stopping to rest along a route. The petition, according to the release, asks for driver ability to pause the ELD during rest periods and loading times.
The petition asks the FMCSA to consider excluding loading and unloading times from the 14-hour on-duty HOS calculations. To help address this, the petition asks for adding flexibility to the Split Sleeper Berth Provision that allows for splitting sleeper berth time, adding up to a 10-hour rest period, and allowing for more flexibility to take shorter breaks when drivers need them, according to the release.
“These modifications are necessary for the movement of perishable commodities and will give drivers the flexibility needed to complete deliveries of fresh fruit and vegetables that meet USDA regulations and enhance driver and public safety measures,” the groups said in the release.
If the recommended changes aren’t made, the groups asked the FMCSA to delay enforcement of current HOS and ELD rules for trucks hauling perishable fruits and vegetables for two to four years to allow for improvement in the regulations.
The nine-page petition was backed by:
- American Farm Bureau Federation;
- California Citrus Mutual;
- California Farm Bureau Federation;
- California Fresh Fruit Association;
- California Specialty Crops Council;
- Eastern Cantaloupe Growers Association;
- Florida Blueberry Growers Association;
- Florida Citrus Mutual;
- Florida Farm Bureau Federation;
- Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association;
- Florida Strawberry Growers Association;
- Florida Tomato Exchange;
- Florida Watermelon Association;
- Georgia Farm Bureau Federation;
- Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association;
- Michigan Farm Bureau;
- Michigan Processing Apple Growers;
- National Watermelon Association;
- Produce Marketing Association;
- Sunshine Sweet Corn Farmers of Florida;
- Texas Farm Bureau;
- Texas International Produce Association;
- United Fresh Produce Association; and
- Western Growers Association.
Foodservice supplier US Foods Holding Corp. is expanding its Marrero, La., facility, nearly tripling its size to support growth in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
US Foods, Rosemont, Ill., broke ground on the project in late January, with plans to have it operating by late 2020, according to a news release. The project will expand the F. Christiana facility from 70,000 to 200,000 square feet.
“This is an important day for US Foods as we take the next step to expand our footprint in Louisiana and reaffirm our commitment to our customers and the community,” Keith Knight, south region president for US Foods, said in a news release about the Jan. 31 groundbreaking ceremony.
US Foods purchased broadliner F. Christiana in mid-2017.
The construction project includes a kitchen and training center for customer product demonstrations and recipe development, plus a technology center for customers to learn about US Foods’ web-based business solutions, according to the release.
The facility is designed to meet energy efficiency standards in refrigeration, lighting, and heating and cooling systems.
US Foods has more than 60 locations, according to the release.
By Americold Realty Trust
ATLANTA- Americold Realty Trust (NYSE: COLD), (the “Company” or “Americold”), the world’s largest owner and operator of temperature-controlled facilities and infrastructure, today announced that the Company has acquired privately-held PortFresh Holdings, LLC (“PortFresh”), a leading temperature-controlled operator servicing fresh produce trade primarily through the Port of Savannah. In connection with its acquisition of PortFresh, Americold plans to build a new 15 million cubic foot state-of-the-art cold storage facility on adjacent land owned by PortFresh. The total cost of the acquisition, including approximately 163 acres of contiguous land, is approximately $35 million. The cost of the planned new build is expected to be between $55 to $65 million. Americold funded the acquisition with cash on hand and expects to fund the development from available capital resources.
“The Port of Savannah is one of the fastest growing ports in the United States and has seen increased traffic of temperature-controlled trade. With this investment, Americold is fulfilling our customers’ requests to expand into this growing market, which provides an efficient and cost-effective solution to meet their import and export needs. We believe this development project represents a significant long term growth opportunity for the Company, as we continue to grow our scale and develop our partnership with the Port of Savannah,” said Fred Boehler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Americold Realty Trust.
The planned new facility will feature 37,000 pallet positions, advanced blast freezing capabilities, and space and infrastructure to support refrigerated-containerized trade. Americold expects to begin construction on the new facility in the first half of 2019, with the opening expected to be in the first quarter of 2020.
The Port of Savannah imported 1.8 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containerized cargo in 2017, a 10.6% increase over 2016, making it the nation’s fourth-largest port, as reported by the 2018 U.S. Ports Report from Descartes Datamyne. The port’s Southern US location, ocean carrier network and access to transportation channels, including to growing markets in South America and Europe, reduces transportation time as compared to Northeastern ports, which require additional trucking and transport. The Port of Savannah continues to expand and has a stated strategy to double its storage capacity with its partners in the next 10 years.
“The Georgia Ports Authority is pleased to welcome Americold to the Savannah market,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. “This announcement represents yet another expansion of Savannah’s position as a hub for the handling of cold and chilled cargoes, and complements the port’s continued on-terminal development of refrigerated cargo infrastructure.”
Brian Kastick, PortFresh’s Founder and CEO, has joined Americold with this acquisition and will help to grow the Company’s fresh produce business initiatives. “I am delighted to join the Americold platform at this exciting time. PortFresh has developed the import market for temperature controlled logistics in the Port of Savannah. I believe that Americold’s brand, platform and operational expertise will enhance PortFresh’s capabilities to serve both our existing and new customers,” stated Kastick.
The returns for the development project and acquisition are consistent with the Company’s stated return expectations for such projects upon stabilization.
About Americold
Americold is the world’s largest owner and operator of temperature-controlled warehouses. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Americold owns and operates 156 temperature-controlled warehouses (as of September 30, 2018), with approximately 928 million refrigerated cubic feet of storage, in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Argentina. Americold’s facilities are an integral component of the supply chain connecting food producers, processors, distributors and retailers to consumers.
The Chilean Fresh Fruit Association worked with The Long Beach Beer Lab Brewery in Long Beach, CA, to produce a unique Chilean plum beer. A total of 4,000 16-ounce bottles are currently being distributed throughout California.
“The key focus of the CFFA is on retail promotions, but this was a really fun and creative way to utilize Chilean plums,” said Steve Hattendorf, western region merchandiser for the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association. “An importer donated the plums and the Beer Lab created a delicious beer out of them. We look forward to potentially working with the Beer Lab on other fruit-forward beers.”
Headed by BrewMaster and Chief Scientist, Dr. Levi Fried, the Beer Lab is a small manufacturing brewery dedicated to fermentation-forward beverages, including sours, one of the hottest beer categories. According to Nielsen, for the 52 week through May 20, 2017, dollar sales of sour beer styles soared 49 percent in off-premise outlets. According to Dr. Fried, fresh fruits like Chilean plums are the perfect addition to sours.
“Chilean plums were the perfect addition to our crisp farmhouse ale, Milk the Mustache. Blended with our sourdough ale and aged for three months with the delicious hand processed Chilean plums, the end result was a crisp, complex and satisfying beer,” Dr. Fried stated. The Beer Lab promoted the Chilean Plum beer by offering t-shirts, bottles and glassware gift packages.
“We look forward to teaming up with Fruits from Chile in the future on more ‘exbeeriments,’ adding other great tasting Chilean fruit to our beer,” Dr. Fried added.
When it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere, Chilean summer fruits are in peak supply. Grapes, peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, and blueberries are currently available at retailers throughout North America.
A new facility has been added by Del Rey Avocado Co. of Fallbrook, CA, that adds an additional 43,000 square feet of cold storage and ripening rooms to the company’s existing footprint in San Diego County. The new facility is located in Vista, CA.
The new Southern California facility comes following the company’s January 2017 expansion, when the company purchased a new facility in Vineland, N.J., according to a news release.
The new facility, according to the release, will serve customers in the Western U.S., in addition to imports from Mexico.
“Our growth and expansion would not be possible without the support of our customers and the tremendous relationships we enjoy with them,” Bob Lucy, president of Del Rey.
“In addition to our customers, our employees are the key to our growth and success. Not a day goes by that we don’t counting our blessing.”
Del Rey Avocado employs 85 full-time staff in its Southern California facilities.
“Opening a new facility has long been our goal and desire to streamline our operations, improve efficiencies and offer us an opportunity to be innovative in meeting the need of our customers,” Bob Siemer, chief agronomist/partner for the company, said in the release.
“The new Vista facility will also provide our growers many benefits as it will allow us to receive fruit faster and get products to market faster.”