AGRO Merchants Group Expands Its Capabilities in Three Countries

Agro Merchants recently announced three expansions in Europe – plans to construct a new facility in FoodCentral, Dublin, The Republic of Ireland; the addition of blast freezing capacity to its facility in Whitchurch, UK; and the opening of a Border Inspection Point (BIP) at its Valencia cold store.

On August 18, 2020, AGRO Merchants Group, a global leader in cold storage and logistics solutions, announced plans to construct a new facility in FoodCentral, Dublin, The Republic of Ireland. This greenfield project represents a significant investment by AGRO that expands its already market- leading position in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, including continued growth of the company’s value-added service offerings. The new building will be adjacent to AGRO’s existing Dublin operations that were launched in 2019 in FoodCentral, a food park close to Dublin Port. Design plans are already underway, with construction works to commence in September 2020 and complete in Q4 2021. The building will include 20,000 frozen and chilled pallet spaces, refrigerated dock space and blast freezing capacity to handle around 1,000 tonnes per week. Together with AGRO’s existing coldstorage infrastructure and transport operations in Dublin, this location is a true one‐stop shop for customers in the food supply chain to handle their logistics operations in a fully integrated manner. AGRO operates a total of five coldstores in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (Dublin, Castleblayney, Lough Egish, Lurgan and Annesborough), with a diverse customer base across a wide variety of fresh and frozen commodities. In addition to cold storage and value-added services (blast freezing, tempering, automated repacking, etc.), temperature-controlled transport and distribution are key services for the company. The company also operates its own fleet of more than 500 refrigerated trailers and 200 vehicle units and has recently expanded its fleet. “The Republic of Ireland and UK represent an important strategic region for our global coldstore network,” said Carlos Rodriguez, CEO of AGRO Merchants Group. “AGRO’s purchase of our first Dublin facility last year was part of a longer-term vision to invest at the FoodCentral location. The response from customers has been incredible, and we now have the opportunity to accelerate our plans in order to support increasing local demand for cold storage and value-added services. AGRO strives to provide first-class, modern infrastructure, exceptional customer service and a fully-integrated network across Ireland and the UK. I’m pleased that we can make this additional investment in Dublin and expand our service offerings throughout the region.”

On September 9, 2020, AGRO Merchants Group announced the addition of blast freezing capacity to its facility in Whitchurch, UK. The additional blast freezers will increase the total number of chambers to eight. The additional infrastructure will be able to freeze 26 tonnes of product per cycle, which will increase the site’s blast freezing capabilities and enable AGRO to support our customers’ continued growth. With 172,000 pallet positions, the Whitchurch facility is AGRO’s largest cold store in the UK & Ireland region. The site also operates its own fleet of vehicles and refrigerated trailers and offers a number of value-added services, such as blast freezing, order picking, ingredient sorting and co-packing. Paul Jukes, Managing Director at AGRO Merchants Whitchurch said: “We pride ourselves in being a full-service provider to our customers. We decided to invest in additional blast freezing infrastructure to better serve our clients and add much-needed capacity. The two additional chambers will allow us to support existing and new customers’ growth.” AGRO strives to provide first-class, modern infrastructure, exceptional customer service and a fully-integrated network across Ireland and the UK. In addition to its Whitchurch site, the company operates five cold stores in the region (Dublin, Castleblayney, Lough Egish, Lurgan and Annesborough), with a diverse customer base across a wide variety of fresh and frozen commodities.

On September 21, 2020, AGRO Merchants Group, announced plans to open a Border Inspection Point (BIP) at its Valencia coldstore. This represents a significant enhancement to AGRO’s service offerings in Iberia, and a large capital investment to develop dedicated infrastructure with laboratories and offices at the Valencia site. The BIP has cleared all regulatory approvals and will be fully operational in mid-October. “This is a significant achievement for AGRO that involved the contributions of many individuals throughout the organization,” said Raül Forés Vallès, Managing Director of AGRO Merchants Iberia. “I am proud that our team achieved this important milestone for the business. We also appreciate the cooperation of the Customs Authorities, Port Authorities, Health Ministry, Agricultural Ministry, Commerce Ministry and other public sectors who were essential for us to get this important project off the ground.” Juan Jose Tobarra, General Manager of AGRO Merchants Valencia commented, “This project presents great new opportunities for our Valencia operations. We are now in a unique position to support our customers to improve their supply chain by reducing handling and overall lead times.” AGRO has an unrivalled presence in the Iberian region. The company operates four facilities in Spain (Algeciras, Valencia and two cold stores in Barcelona) and four facilities in Portugal (Lisbon, Porto, Leixões and Sines). In addition to multi-temperature storage and transportation, the company also provides value-added services such as order picking, repacking and a variety of import and export services.

About AGRO Merchants Group
AGRO Merchants Group is the 4th largest and most international cold storage operator in the world, with 66 facilities in 11 countries across Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. AGRO is dedicated to delivering superior fresh and frozen food handling solutions through our international facility network using local market knowledge with a focus on customer care and sustainability. AGRO’s vision is to be the leading partner in temperature-controlled logistics for the global food industry, recognized for innovative thinking, commodity expertise and ability to integrate businesses, driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and respect for its rich heritage. For additional information, please visit AGRO’s website.