Alifresca, a branch of the Swiss Coop Group, is moving the offices based in Picassent/Valencia to the new facility of Caliche, a company in the logistics industry based in Spain. However, such a fact by itself would not be valuable additional information, if not for the new laboratory of the Germany-based Dr. Lippert company as a vital part of the facility. This means that business, food analysis and logistics converge in the same place. This is a unique integrated management model in Europe signed by Alifresca CEO Vladimir Cob Sevilla.
Vladimir Cob Sevilla
Caliche will officially open its new logistics center in Valencia on 21 February 2023. The company will immediately manage all its international export and import goods activities from this new space.
"The logistics center extends over 15,000 square meters," said Cob Sevilla, "and its location is a great strength, as it has direct connections by road (A-7 highway), the sea (Valencia and Sagunto ports) and the Valencia airport. The total capacity of the new space is 30,000 pallets and has eight temperature-controlled cold rooms dedicated exclusively to food of all kinds, fruit and vegetables in the lead. The facility integrates an analytical laboratory from the company Dr. Lippert, which allows joint projects to combine two key aspects in the international fruit and vegetable trade, such as logistics and quality management."
Overview of the new logistics center facility
Dr. Lippert took its first steps abroad eight years ago with the Swiss. It was Alifresca, headquartered in Basel (Holding), Valencia, and Verona, which started the project with the prestigious laboratory to control processes tied to the logistics and trade of fruits and vegetables from Spain to the rest of Europe, including Italy. Since then, the journey continues as both partners grow.
What are Alifresca's current merchandise volumes and what will they look like with the opening of Caliche?
"The volumes will essentially not change," answered Cob Sevilla. "Our sales currently are around 310 million, which are expected to grow in the near future. But we are not tied only to Spain or Italy. Not everyone knows, for example, that 100 percent of our supply from France to Switzerland will be through the Verona office in Italy. To these we need to add other areas in the world from which we purchase a wide variety of fruit and vegetable references such as Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Albania, India, South Africa, Central and South America, and others."
What is the investment for the new facility and what are the benefits of the new center with a more European dimension?
"The investment in Caliche amounts to 15 million euros," explained the manager, "and the main benefits are to divert productions we are interested in from the Perpignan market, that is, to gain critical mass in Caliche with productions from the most varied companies, whether small, large or niche, as well as to obtain routes directly to foreign countries and with the guarantee of the most advanced verification and control systems in terms of food safety. This is only the beginning. Similar projects are already in the works in Italy."
For more information: 
Vladimir Cob Sevilla
Alifresca Italy Srl
alifresca.ceo@alifresca.it
+39 045 208 3910