Cold Foods Industry News

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Smithfield Foods became the first major protein company to commit to becoming carbon negative in all company-owned operations in the United States by 2030. A leader in sustainability for more than two decades, the company will go beyond carbon neutrality to effectively remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits. It will achieve this goal without purchasing carbon credits to offset emissions.

Ti Cold Development, a nationally recognized leader in the cold chain industry, has begun work on a 315,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Phoenix. Upon completion, this facility will feature nearly 40,000 pallet positions, a 60-foot-deep refrigerated dock, 40-foot-deep refrigerated rail dock and -10F to 35F, fully convertible refrigerated / frozen space. 

JUST Egg announces the largest expansion yet for its award-winning plant-based egg. By the end of the month, JUST Egg will be available at more than 17,000 points of retail distribution in the United States, a 40% increase and a testament to the breakout success of the pioneering product that launched nationwide last year.

Fristam Pumps USA announces Tim Nelson has joined the company as Midwest Regional Sales Manager. In his new position, Tim will be responsible for managing sales and related activities in the upper Midwest for Fristam. 

By any measure, 2020 has been a historically difficult year for foodservice distributors. COVID-19 wiped out business for foundational customers like restaurants, hotels, caterers, stadiums, schools and other volume foodservice clients starting in March, and even today, as states attempt to re-open amid the uncertainty of where the pandemic is heading, an argument could be made that foodservice distributors have had to continuously pivot more than any other cold chain segment to stay afloat.

Americold, the world's largest publicly-traded owner and operator of temperature-controlled warehouses, has partnered with Feed the Children, a leading nonprofit focused on alleviating childhood hunger, to support COVID-19 relief for families in crisis.

Looking back on what we’ll call 2020 B.C. (Before Coronavirus), the pipeline for cold storage construction was already robust and healthy. According to research by commercial real estate firm CBRE, overall industrial construction—which encompasses cold storage, along with warehouses, distribution centers, manufacturing facilities, self-storage, office and flex space—was at 298 million square feet (MSF) before COVID-19, bolstered by the ongoing rise of e-commerce. 

In the upcoming September issue of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, we highlight the pandemic pivots made by Sysco and US Foods in 2020 due to COVID-19 and its effect on foodservice clients like restaurants, hotels, caterers, stadiums, and other volume venues. While putting that story together, we also had a chance to speak to another foodservice distribution giant, Golden State Foods (GSF) and its Chairman and CEO, Mark Wetterau.

Flowers Foods, producer of Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Wonder, Tastykake, and other bakery foods, announced that Brad Cashaw has been named chief supply chain officer, effective September 8, 2020. Cashaw will be responsible for Flowers’ supply chain operations and report to Brad Alexander, chief operating officer. 

Foster Farms will close the main Livingston processing plant on Tuesday evening, September 1 and not resume operations until Monday evening, September 7.  During this downtime, the company will complete two rounds of deep cleaning and two rounds of COVID-19 testing covering all 1,400 plant employees. The testing program will ensure that all workers first reentering the plant on September 7 will be free of COVID-19.