Towering Automated Freezer Coming To Western Canada
One of the world’s most advanced cold storage and logistics company is coming to Alberta, planning to disrupt the market for cold chain services.
The Netherlands-based company NewCold, rapidly expanding with 18 facilities worldwide across North America, Europe, and Australia, is investing $222 million in Alberta, to erect a 148-foot-high freezer facility. Once completed, this facility will stand as Canada's largest cold storage unit. Equipped with cutting-edge automated storage and retrieval systems, it will efficiently handle food products in sub-zero conditions for clients across North America, Europe, and Australia.
This development promises healthy competition in Western Canada's cold storage sector, traditionally dominated by a near-monopoly of legacy companies. NewCold's disruptive impact is well-known internationally, leveraging its exceptional engineering, logistics, and operational efficiencies to offer significantly lower storage rates.
The plan outlines a 45-meter frozen high-bay warehouse covering 30,000 square meters (325,0000 square feet).
Automated freezer warehouses offer many other advantages: the space required can be reduced by up to 60 percent compared to manual warehouses - an important argument in areas where land is scarce and/or costly. Other important factors are the shortage of skilled labor and the reduction of operating costs. For example personnel costs in an automated warehouse can be up to 65 percent lower than in a manual distribution center, while energy consumption can be reduced by around 50 percent.
Modern software solutions also offer the advantage of a transparent value added chain. If worse comes to worst, manufacturers and logistics service providers need to be able to identify the affected products with just a few mouse clicks. Such supply chain transparency is only possible through digitalization and automation.
With an automated facility rather than a manual freezer warehouse, you can not only double productivity but also save up to two thirds of the cooling energy.
NewCold, the fast-growing leader in advanced automated warehouse and cold chain logistics, announced plans today to invest $222 million and create over 50 new jobs in Alberta’s agri-food sector. With support from Invest Alberta and a grant from the Government of Alberta, NewCold will expand into the southern Alberta community of Coaldale, creating a cutting-edge food storage facility that will build on the region’s strength as Canada’s premier food corridor and contribute to long-term regional economic growth.
NewCold identified Southern Alberta as an ideal location to support the growing food processing industry in the region with its highly automated cold store. The facility will create critical infrastructure to supply food across Canada, further enhancing the region’s growth as an agri-food corridor. NewCold will also invest in improving Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) rail connectivity to give businesses ready access to export their products with ease and security. The investment will go into municipal rail lines to develop Coaldale into an export hub.
NewCold is creating over 50 permanent jobs in the area with an eye on connecting with post-secondary institutions in the future, to develop training programs aimed at diversifying available talent. The construction of the facility will also create up to 200 construction jobs.
Strong partnerships among Alberta agencies ensure that companies looking at Alberta get the support they need. Invest Alberta connected NewCold with available incentives and introductions to the local business community. The Government of Alberta contributed $2.1 million through an Innovation and Growth Fund grant for NewCold’s expansion, while the Town of Coaldale helped expedite the company’s operations and will continue to provide strategic development support to ensure they have the competitive environment, skilled workforce, and connectivity they require.
NewCold’s state-of-the-art warehouse will use proprietary software and technology to ensure food safety and quality, while being 50 per cent more energy efficient than traditional cold stores. This technology supports their aim to create sustainable value chains and exemplifies their mission of contributing to a future in which no resources are wasted.
The Alberta-based facility marks an important step toward addressing the growing need for cold storage and logistics to the benefit of local producers, looking for solutions to broaden their business while ensuring food safety.
NewCold is poised to initiate construction, acquire equipment, and start hiring immediately, with the goal of having more than 50 employees onsite by the end of 2026.
QUOTES
“We recognize Alberta’s growing importance in North America’s food supply chain, so developing a facility in the province is a key part of our strategic global expansion. NewCold is committed to building a better food supply chain that is more resilient and efficient. Our new state-of-the-art facility will bring advanced food logistics to Alberta, ultimately helping our customers serve theirs and benefiting consumers.”
– Bram Hage, NewCold Founder and CEO
“Announcing our automated cold store in one of Canada’s largest and fastest-growing food production areas marks an exciting milestone of NewCold’s expansion in the North American market. We are grateful for the excellent collaboration from our Alberta and Coaldale partners in making this new advanced storage facility a reality. We are proud to offer the latest automated cold storage innovations and technology to support food shippers in the region with operations beginning in 2025.”
– Jonas Swarttouw, NewCold Executive Vice President Commercial and Chairman in North America
“Alberta’s government is attracting investment like NewCold to the province because of our business-friendly policies and programs. The Investment and Growth Fund compliments the province’s low corporate tax rate, highly skilled workforce and commitment to reduce administrative burden, which means businesses can invest with confidence.”
– Matt Jones, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade
“Agriculture is a key industry for Alberta, and NewCold’s investment is a win for both processors and producers. This project is a welcome boost to our economy and will help cement Alberta’s position as a leader in agriculture and agri-food investment.”
– RJ Sigurdson, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation
“We’re thrilled to welcome NewCold to Coaldale and look forward to celebrating the grand opening of its brand-new, state-of-the-art, cold storage facility. With this historic investment, Coaldale continues to establish itself as a major logistics and investment hub within Canada’s Premier Food Corridor. We are excited to welcome NewCold into our growing business community and would like to thank Invest Alberta, Minister Matt Jones, and everyone at the ministry of Jobs, Economy, and Trade for their support of this amazing project.”
– Jack Van Rijn, Mayor, Town of Coaldale
“NewCold’s $222 million investment is a major win for southern Alberta, creating more than 50 permanent new jobs and positioning Coaldale as an export hub. Collaboration among Alberta’s business-friendly agencies was key to NewCold’s final decision, with Coaldale, Invest Alberta, and the Province pitching in to help the company bring their vision to life.”
– Rick Christiaanse, Invest Alberta CEO
About NewCold
NewCold is a global leader in advanced food logistics, with 18 state-of-the-art automated and energy-efficient warehouses on three continents with a combined capacity of over 1.3 million pallet positions. Alongside a growing transport fleet of over 200 trucks and 500 trailers. NewCold provides end-to-end supply chain solutions to leading food companies powered by innovative technology and backed by a team of over 2,000 people. www.newcold.com
NewCold stands out in the industry with its unparalleled focus on automation. The company has established itself as specialists in developing high-tech solutions, including best-in-class cold chain logistics software. This highly specialized expertise has enabled NewCold to pioneer some of the largest and most highly automated facilities globally. NewCold delivers innovation at every stage of the supply chain – from design through to development and operation, providing leading service levels and continuous improvement programs that keep customers progressing.
Since its inception in 2012, NewCold has grown into one of the world's largest and most advanced automated warehouse and cold chain logistics companies. The company boasts a rapidly expanding global presence, with its Innovation & Support Center located within the head office in Breda, the Netherlands. A pioneer in developing and operating frozen automated warehouses, NewCold offers significant footprint, labor, and energy reduction with increased food safety.
NewCold’s global network spans across three continents, encompassing 15 locations and offering over 1,187,000 pallet positions. Its transport fleet comprises over 200 trucks and 300 trailers, supported by a global team of over 2,000 employees.
Former customers, including Froneri (formerly known as R&R Ice Cream), McCain, and Unilever, have chosen NewCold for new projects. With a big vision and even bigger ambitions, NewCold, supported by a strong leadership team and dedicated employees, has expanded its operations to the United States and Australia.
NewCold operates as an integrated service provider for cold chain logistics, based in the Netherlands. It operates a European network of large-scale automated cold stores and refrigerated transport, serving frozen food producers in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Poland. Furthermore, NewCold is expanding its global operations with facilities in Australia and plans for more in the US.
NewCold stands out as a very unique company with the engineering prowess and knowhow to fast track and operate very complex cold store projects involving automation, robotics, and highly sophisticated software controls.
Continuously seeking the world’s best solutions in refrigeration and thermal scopes, NewCold equips its very tall automated storage freezers, which can usually store approximately 100,000 pallet positions, with state-of-the-art technology. Their facilities utilize automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) to automatically move and store products in the ‘dark’ high-bay warehouse, maintaining optimal conditions with all facility areas cooled down to sub-zero temperatures. Additionally, several of their facilities feature low-oxygen fire suppression systems.
What is a Automated High Bay Warehouse?
The automated high bay warehouse is the all-rounder for heavy and medium loads. Controlled by modern software, the storage and retrieval process takes place completely independently – making it highly dynamic and very safe. Its performance extends to round-the-clock operation.
The automated high bay warehouse mainly consists of pallet racks, which are approx. 12 to 45 m high and can be made of steel or wood. In the aisles between the racks, storage and retrieval machines (SRM) or shuttle vehicles are used to pick up or place the palletized goods.
The automated high-bay warehouse has a ultrad compact design, accommodates pallets up to a total weight of 3,500 kg each, single or multiple deep, and makes very good use of storage space. The technology is robust and allows for ambient temperatures from -30 °C to +45 °C. This makes it suitable for use in a wide range of industries.
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