A few days ago, Frigo Warehousing's new warehouse, located in the municipality of Moerdijk, was festively opened. The company is thus now officially present in its fourth location, designating it as its headquarters. Frigo offers services such as forwarding, easyfresh and warehousing, which makes it a true service providing company with a wide range of solutions for everyone, from producer to end user.
The forwarding department takes care of groupage and distribution. Products arrive in the Netherlands and are then forwarded worldwide. Depending on the partners' needs, this can be by truck, train or ship. Frigo has 250 45ft. reefer containers, which are used for short sea routes between ports in Spain, the Netherlands, the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia. The Moerdijk location has its own 300-meter quay that fits seamlessly into the logistics picture.
Erik Janse in front of the new facilities
Easyfresh Logistics
Frigo is co-owner of Easyfresh Logistics, with offices in Valencia - Spain, Santiago - Chile, Puerto Mont - Chile, Dublin - Ireland and Breda - Netherlands. There is also a direct connection between Rotterdam and Brazil. The company carries out (conditioned) deep-sea transport. Easyfresh has 126 agencies in more than 60 countries, each with their knowledge of the local market and regulations, which makes them indispensable to deliver shipments problem-free anywhere in the world.
In Breda, the company has three warehouses. In total, the company (Breda and Moerdijk) has room for about 90,000 pallets. Over the years, Frigo has developed from a cold store firm to a company offering temperature-controlled (value added) food logistics. The company is run by the Van Elderen family, who started the business in the year 2000. The company is now part of the CubeCold group and the second generation of the Van Elderen is already active in the company.
Its own 300-meter quay
The new location has been designed taking into account the growth potential of a logistics service provider that can offer a complete refrigerated and frozen package (down to -25 degrees Celsius) for refrigerated, frozen and ambient transport. The company has its own 300-meter quay with a 9 meter draught. Products brought in by ship can be transported further inland from the Moerdijk location via truck or rail link. The company can also offer additional handling (repackaging, packing, etc.) if required.
A Border Inspection Point (BIP) has been set up in the new building. Here all products are inspected and customs formalities arranged. All necessary documents can be taken care of. KCB inspections and permits are available. The NVWA can have its own office here and discussions are underway for the NVWA to start making use of this space as soon as possible. "The ball is in NVWA's court," said Ewoud van Elderen. The BIP features two spacious temperature-controlled inspection rooms, three docks and a freezer and refrigerated quarantine cell.
The Moerdijk facility has room for 50,000 wheeled pallets. At this stage, 90% of those are frozen and the remaining 10% are refrigerated or ambient. In the horticultural area, the cells are currently filled with juices, fruit pulp, peeled onions (from China), onion rings and garlic.
Frozen garlic awaiting processing
The goal is to handle more and more horticultural products, either organic or conventional. The company is SKAL certified. "The new building is multi-functional and everything is ready for the quick implementation of services for the horticultural sector, such as packing and repacking, cross docking, labeling, order picking, inspection of fruit through third parties, etc. The company is willing to invest in machinery to make that a reality in consultation with (potential) customers."
A 4,500 m2 mezzanine floor has been set up to facilitate the provision of more of such (horticultural) services. It is suited for 4,000 pallets at a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius. Next year, cooling (+5) and freezing (-20) will also be possible here. The mezzanine floor has been designed to take as much weight (3.5 tons per m2) as the subfloor. On the mezzanine floor, pallets can be stored in up to 3 heights. There are 4 elevators to get pallets onto the mezzanine floor, each with a lifting capacity of 5 tons. The 0 to 5 degrees expedition area is equipped with a two-stage airlock, which means that there is an aisle between the docks and the internal rolling doors of the conditioned area. This minimizes the temperature loss between outside and inside.
Erik Janse (Business Development director), Ewoud van Elderen (Director), Reinier van Elderen (Founder) and Derk van Mackelenbergh (Nekovri - Dutch Association for Cold Storage)
"With the Moerdijk facilities, the company is now ready for the future. A windmill is still on the wish list, as that would allow the company to become completely green. "A first step has been taken with the solar panels, which can cover 30% of the total energy needs. Residual heat is used to heat the building where necessary. To be also able to cover the remaining 70%, we are waiting for a permit from the Moerdijk municipality. It is proving to be a difficult hurdle, which you would not expect from a government that is supposed to be promoting 'green' policies."
Facts & Figures:
- 3 sections: freezer, refrigerated and ambient
- 1 cell: +5 degrees 1500 pallets
- 1 cell: 0 degrees Celsius for 1000 pallets
- 6 freezer cells from -18 to -25 for 43000 pallets.
- Mezzanine floor +15 to +18 degrees/mid 2024 temperature controlled for 4000 pallets
- 300 meter quay/9 meter draught with port facilities
- 24 loading and unloading docks
- 250 reefer containers of 45ft./33 pallets
- 1 border inspection point (BIP)
- Emergency power generator
- 6312 solar panels on the roof
- 4 5 ton cargo elevators
Click here to see the photo report
For more information:
Erik Janse / Ewoud van Elderen
Frigo Warehousing BV
Coldstore facilities & logistics solutions
Tel +31 76 593 70 30
Email: info@frigobreda.com
www.frigobreda.com