GCCA’s New European Logistics Council Launched

The European Logistics Council was recently appointed and launched as a new member leadership group for GCCA’s European membership. Composed of GCCA warehousing and transportation members, the Council will contribute their experience, influence, and vision to enhance bespoke member resources and services and to the development of the industry overall.

Eleven European members were appointed to serve on the Council for a renewable two-year term (one year for the Chair and Vice Chair):

• Manuel Cabrera-Kabana, Director, Friopuerto Investment, Spain (elected Chair)
• Niels Lundgaard-Svenstrup, Board Member, Coldstar, Denmark (elected Vice Chair)
• Tasos Charitonidis, Operations and Customer Service Dept., Alaska Cold Stores, Greece (warehouse member)
• Xavier Haspeslagh, Owner, Stockhabo, Belgium (warehouse member)
• Andrew Lawrence, Director, Magnavale, United Kingdom (warehouse member)
• George Lee, Commercial Director UK & Ireland, Agro Merchants Group, Ireland (transportation member)
• Joris Olbrechts, Director, Jodifrost, Belgium (warehouse member)
• Jeroen Tempels, Managing Director, Eurofrigo, Netherlands (warehouse member)
• Ron van Gestel, Senior Commercial Manager, DP World, Belgium (transportation member)
• Ben van Leeuwen, Global Business Development Manager, Frigolanda, Netherlands (warehouse member)
• Kris Verbruggen, Managing Director, Frigo Logistics, Poland (transportation member)

“I am excited to launch this new leadership group in Europe! The Council members are visionary leaders who have strong ambitions for the future of cold chain,” says GCCA European Director Julie Hanson. “Collectively, they will serve as the voice of the cold chain industry in Europe and help GCCA drive growth and value for our members.”

The Council has set a number of priorities on which we will focus our efforts in 2021. These include:

• Carbon footprint reduction and climate change targets
• Cold storage insurance
• Labour and talent development
• Market data

Council service empowers members to engage in focused, high-level strategic discussions about the industry and association programmes. This is a unique chance for members to learn from their peers while giving back to the association by sharing their time and experience.