Hello, and welcome to the coolest community in freight! Here you’ll find the latest information on warehouse news, tech developments and all things reefer madness-related. I’m your controller of the thermostat, Mary O’Connell. Thanks for having me!
All thawed out
Florida-based RealCold is making moves yet again as it has acquired Forte Frozen. The acquisition gives RealCold five currently operational, high-throughput facilities in strategic markets in Dallas; Ormond Beach, Florida; Clearfield, Utah; Clackamas, Oregon; and Colton, California. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Dan Forte, CEO of Forte Frozen, said in the Valdosta Daily Times: “RealCold and Forte Frozen have a shared vision of what cold storage can look like in the future. It is one in which value added services like DTC play a critical role in the supply chain. We are excited that this transaction will allow us to execute this vision on a grand scale, as it provides resilience, innovation, and robust demonstrability, all grounded in an uncompromising customer-centric mindset.”
Temperature checks
Lineage has joined a coalition of cold storage providers for “Join the Move to -15C.” The campaign will explore the potential transition to new, greener standards to help reduce carbon emissions in the sector on a global scale. The “Join the Move to -15 C” initiative involves reassessing the long-standing international temperature standard of minus 18 degrees Celsius. With new research that came out indicating that frozen foods are still safely frozen at minus 15 C instead of minus 18 C, this type of initiative should become much more commonplace.
In a Tullahoma News article, Greg Lehmkuhl, president and CEO of Lineage, said, “Aligned with our purpose of transforming the food supply chain to eliminate waste and help feed the world, we are thrilled to be among the first coalition participants in furthering a collective industry effort with the potential to combat climate change and mitigate the carbon emissions impact of the cold chain industry.”
Food and drugs
Talk about big goals for 2024, McDonald’s is taking that to heart. The home of the best fast food fries is looking to add 10,000 new stores over the next three years and double revenue from its loyalty program. The place with the best fast food sodas (the secret is in the straw) is doubling down on the beverage game with a new concept restaurant called CosMc’s.
CosMc’s will sell cold beverages, including flavored iced teas and slushes. The first location, naturally, will be right outside McDonald’s headquarters in Bolingbrook, Illinois. A Food Market article highlights that the stores are based on “McDonald’s alien character CosMc, which appeared in a series of advertisements in the 1980s and 90s.”
The game plan for McDonald’s is to compete with Starbucks and Dutch Bros with these new stores. The additional stores are expected to be throughout Texas. If someone finds one in real life, I’m going to need a full report of what it’s like.
Cold chain lanes
This week’s SONAR reefer market is Salt Lake City. Reefer rejection rates in Salt Lake are returning to normal following Thanksgiving. Rejection rates are still elevated at 9.76% compared to the 5-7% rejections in the middle of November. On the other hand, reefer outbound tender volumes leave a lot to be desired as a strong rebound following Thanksgiving never happened. Although reefer outbound tender volumes are up 12.82% week over week, it’s still not to the pre-holiday levels. We can expect to see lackluster volumes at the beginning of next year as well.
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Shelf life
Clever Carnivore raises $7M to expand operations and scale up production of cultivated meat
Florida county pioneers on-scene blood transfusions with portable blood bank system
Tyson Foods Inc. recalls chicken patty product due to possible foreign matter contamination
‘Potentially unreliable’ shipping worries online shoppers
Wanna chat in the cooler? Shoot me an email with comments, questions or story ideas at moconnell@freightwaves.com.
See you on the internet.
Mary
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