Running on Ice: Walmart moves south

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Hello, and welcome to the coolest community in freight! Here you’ll find the latest information on warehouse news, tech developments and all things reefer madness-related. I’m your controller of the thermostat, Mary O’Connell. Thanks for having me!

All thawed out 

(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Walmart has made some bold decisions. Instead of setting up a new milk processing facility in the Upper Midwest, heart of dairy country, it has decided to set up shop in Valdosta, Georgia. Bold choice. Knowing Walmart, there is a reason for the move to the South. That reason would be increased access to Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in the Southeast.

This new facility will focus strictly on milk processing and will create 400 jobs for the Valdosta community. It’s expected to service more than 750 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores. It’s Walmart’s second plant exclusively for processing milk, the first being in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Walmart is looking to take similar steps with other commodities. The company is working on two case-ready beef facilities in Georgia and Kansas in addition to partnerships with rancher-owner Sustainable Beef LLC.

Temperature Checks

(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

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Massachusetts-based Cold Chain Technologies grows internationally … again. This time the acquisition is Exeltainer, an international thermal packaging company with hubs in Spain and Brazil. This is the third acquisition by Cold Chain Technologies since it was acquired by Aurora Capital in 2019.

“Exeltainer has developed an impressive portfolio of solutions to meet the stringent compliance requirements of its global pharmaceutical clients,” Cold Chain CEO Ranjeet Banerjee said in a press release. 

Also growing here in the U.S. is Portland, Maine’s cold storage space. A year after breaking ground, construction is picking up speed on a 107,000-square-foot warehouse on Portland’s coast. The project will open about a year and some change after the originally planned date. It has been stalled by issues underground and the residents. They aren’t the biggest fan of the project.

The new facility is expected to meet demand for the Icelandic shipping company Eimskip and companies in Maine as well. It will recapture some of the almost $2 billion of seafood exported from the East Coast that doesn’t pass through Portland.

Food and drugs

(Photo: Business Wire)

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The man who gave us the show “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern” has taken his talents to the slightly less bizarre. Zimmern has come out with his own line of frozen entrees that don’t appear to be bizarre in nature. His meals focus on comfort food and the convenience of not having to wait 45-plus minutes for a meatloaf to cook.

His meals include Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese, Meatloaf, Turkey Dinner and Swedish Meatballs. Personally, the Turkey Dinner intrigues me the most as I love a good roast turkey but hate waiting a few hours for a whole turkey to cook.

“These frozen meals are a result of years of exploration, passion, and dedication to the art of cooking,” says Zimmern. “Whether you’re enjoying the comforting notes of Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese or savoring the rich flavors of Swedish Meatballs, each dish tells a story of authentic flavors and family. With ‘By Andrew Zimmern’ frozen entrées, it is possible to enjoy chef-quality comfort food meals with all the quality and none of the stress.”

Cold chain lanes

(SONAR Ticker: ROTVI.DSM, ROTRI.DSM)

This week’s SONAR market is Des Moines, Iowa. Reefer outbound tender rejections increased 203 basis points week over week for a ROTRI of 15.84%. Rejection rates over 10% indicate that there are inflated spot rates for a market, so hitting well above that should make for some lucrative rates on the carrier front. Shippers should expect a fair amount of contracted freight to get rejected and pushed to the spot market.

Is SONAR for you? Check it out with a demo!

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Shelf life

The curse of Thawed Loadoma and managing refrigerated assets

Conagra Brands focused on finding the ‘sweet spot’ amid shifting consumer demands

Constellation Cold Logistics entered into an agreement to acquire Colso Coldstorage

California isn’t banning Skittles, but four additives will be restricted 

Once again California tells a court AB5 isn’t disrupting trucking in state

Wanna chat in the cooler? Shoot me an email with comments, questions or story ideas at moconnell@freightwaves.com.

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See you on the internet.

Mary

If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you must be pretty chill. Join the coolest community in freight and subscribe for more at freightwaves.com/subscribe.

The post Running on Ice: Walmart moves south appeared first on FreightWaves.

Source: freightwaves - Running on Ice: Walmart moves south
Editor: Mary O'Connell

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