NewCold, the Netherlands, announced plans to open a $90 million, 180,000-square-foot facility in Burley, Idaho.

The facility, what it said to be one of the largest cold storage warehouses in the nation, will employ 100.

NewCold’s Burley facility, which took 25,000 tons of steel to construct, is using advanced conveyance and stacking technology to load and store frozen food pallets.

“This is NewCold’s second U.S. operation and one of the largest cold storage facilities of its kind,” says Jonas Swarttouw, U.S. director. “Due to its concentration of food processing companies, strong labor force and good supplier and government partnerships, NewCold chose Idaho for one of the most innovative and efficient frozen-food centers in the country.”

The new warehouse stands at over 14 stories tall – with a cubic, vertical layout optimal for pallet storage. Its sleek, efficient design cuts down energy consumption by up to half the rate of traditional warehouses. In fact, the facility’s high bay – not accessible by facility workers – is kept dark, slashing electricity usage.

The cutting-edge facility nears a short-line rail facility, which will be used to ship approximately 15% of NewCold’s stored foods. The remaining loads will be trucked to foodservice clients or other warehouses.

NewCold’s Burley location will employ managers, planners, operators, maintenance workers, drivers and forklift operators, all of whom oversee an efficient inbound, storage, order fulfillment and outbound process. This begins with automatically loaded trailers at a production facility, which are carried to NewCold and automatically unloaded, scanned and stored with conveyor systems and cranes.

The warehouse stores foods at -5°F, with oxygen levels lowered to 16.5% for fire prevention. NewCold’s employees work from a low bay area to oversee the shipment process, and a pick floor, where orders are fulfilled.