Maersk plans cold store facility in Gujarat

19/01/2024

PRESS RELEASE

The 260,000 sq. ft. temperature-controlled facility at Mehsana will attract over INR 113 crore investment and be used to store frozen processed food items.

Mumbai: A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk), the global integrated logistics company, broke ground for its upcoming Cold Store facility at Mehsana, Gujarat, in the western part of India. Being built exclusively for HyFun Foods, the brand-new facility will offer temperature-controlled storage solutions for perishable frozen processed food items.

Vikash Agarwal, Managing Director of Maersk South Asia said: “Frozen food items need high quality, unbroken cold chain logistics solutions to preserve their integrity. Our new, state-of-the-art facility at Mehsana will be equipped with the highest standards of temperature compliance, with customised racking system to suit customer’s exact requirements, and modern technology to ensure top-notch operational accuracy.”

Maersk’s new Cold Store facility will be constructed close to the customer’s manufacturing facility and will serve as the mother Cold Store facility. The 14,700-pallet position facility will be built at the Fanidhar Mega Food Park and will be one of India’s largest single-shed cold stores. The large facility will help the customer store all the cargo in a single facility instead of multiple smaller facilities before dispatch.

Maersk’s existing integrated cold chain solution provided to the customer will continue to ensure that an unbroken cold chain logistics solution is provided to the customer as the cargo moves from the manufacturing facility. This includes landside transportation to the port by road and rail, co-ordination at the port, customs clearances and ocean transportation for all export cargo, making this investment a step towards a truly integrated and end-to-end logistics solution.

Maersk also provides the customer with Captain Peter solution, a Remote Container Management system, that provides full visibility to the customer during the cold chain transportation. It monitors temperature and other critical elements necessary to ensure integrity of cold chain logistics at the fingertip for the customer.

Kamlesh Karamchandani, Director – Sales & Marketing for HyFun Foods said: “Food security and quality are our top-most priority for ultimate customer satisfaction. To be able to deliver on those, we were looking at redesigning our supply chain model in a way where an unbroken cold chain becomes the backbone of how we move our processed food. Maersk’s single-window solution for the entire cold chain logistics strengthened by the brand new cold store facility simplifies supply chains for us.”

The new cold store facility being built by Maersk will exclusively cater to HyFun Foods. The facility will boast of operational and sustainable excellence using Ammonia refrigeration, which is a natural gas with zero Global Warming Potential (GWP). The facility will also use high-efficiency compressors that operate with lower power consumption. PIR panels will be used at the cold store facility which are built for fire resistance and have lower thermal conductivity.

The facility will be equipped with modern warehouse management systems that will ensure the most efficient inventory management. It also provides real-time visibility to the customer on inventory developments in order to let the customer make informed decisions on inventory management. The facility will adhere to the highest safety standards as well such as a human-friendly staging area and a robust fire detection and firefighting system.

Maersk will invest in solar energy to power the facility in a bid to ensure that the logistics solutions offered are in line with the decarbonising targets set up by the company for NetZero by 2040. Green Building requirements like rain harvesting, STP, and zero discharge are also a part of the construction and operations plan.

The facility will be built with world class design and engineering parameters adhering to all the compliance and quality requirements.