Dairy giant FrieslandCampina has announced the opening of a new distribution centre in Meppel, in the Netherlands.
FrieslandCampina's ingredients president, Kathy Fortmann, and the mayor of Meppel, Mr Korteland, were present at the inauguration ceremony.
'Sustainable Construction'
Fortmann said, “The distribution centre means a lot to FrieslandCampina and the neighbourhood. Meppel is a favourable, central location and easily accessible both by road and by water.
"The sustainable construction and more efficient transport make a considerable contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions.”
The building has obtained a 'Very Good' ranking in the BREAAM sustainability index.
Reducing Carbon Footprint
As well as annual efficiency savings, a reduction of 1.5 million transport kilometres will be possible from this location, the company said.
This will result in cutting CO2 emission by 650,000 kilograms, which is equal to driving a truck 37 times around the world.
The new unit, which will create around 35 jobs, complies with the latest requirements in the areas of food safety and fire safety.
Storage And Export
The facility will store and transfer dairy products from its production locations in Beilen and Meppel to markets such as China, Hong Kong, Russia, and Greece.
The distribution centre, spread across a surface area of 31,000 square metres, has the capacity to accommodate 43,000 pallets. It will handle more than 9,000 export containers and 8,000 truckloads annually, the company said.
It will replace FrieslandCampina's distribution centres in Meppel, Hoogeveen, Heerenveen, and Veendam.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.