Americold, Atlanta, and Perdue Foods, Salisbury, Md., announced that the 96,000-square-foot temperature-controlled storage facility expansion underway in Leesport, Pa., will handle products for Perdue’s northeastern U.S. customers. This state-of-the-art, energy-efficient facility provides more than 2.3 million cubic feet of temperature-controlled storage space dedicated to the support of the Perdue Foods business.

This expansion is expected to create just over 100 new jobs in Pennsylvania. The new facility will handle products previously distributed from a Perdue-owned distribution center in Georgetown, Del., which is being converted to a dedicated shipping facility serving the adjacent Georgetown processing plant. And, the Leesport is facility is approximately three hours closer to most customers compared to the Georgetown distribution center.

“The Leesport expansion is symbolic of our long-standing partnership with Perdue and our commitment to designing and implementing customized solutions for our customers that meet the needs of their growing businesses,” says Fred Boehler, president and COO of Americold.

“Americold is the leader in temperature-controlled distribution and logistics, and expansion of our partnership with them in Leesport will enable us to focus our efforts on continued market leadership in premium brands and products. At the same time, they’ll provide us with updated technology to better serve our customers,” says Lester Gray, senior vice president of operations for Perdue Foods. “This supports our growth across our portfolio of brands, including the PERDUE, HARVESTLAND, COLEMAN NATURAL and COLEMAN ORGANIC brands, as well as customer-owned brands, while working toward improvements in customer service. We’re seeing continued growth through new customers and new products for the PERDUE brand and unprecedented growth in organic brands.”