Page 22 - AWA Vol.41-No.9 issue

FOOD STORAGE

Congebec, CN plan Calgary railyard cold-storage facility

A Quebec-based cold chain logistics company, has an-
nounced plans to develop a new state-of-the art cold stor-
age distribution facility in Rocky View County just outside
Calgary.
The project, which is still in the planning phase, will be
located near CN’s Calgary Logistics Park, giving the com-
pany direct access to the intermodal rail yard, a key factor
in the decision to build at the site. version of temperature-sensitive goods between rail and
“Working with CN on this new Calgary facility is a natural warehouse.
extension of our mission to provide reliable, sustainable
cold chain solutions. By combining Congebec’s expertise To be developed with CN’s construction partner Mat-
in temperature-controlled logistics with CN’s expansive thews Tribal, it will integrate cold storage, cross-docking,
rail network, we’re giving customers the confidence to transloading and first- and last-mile services with CN’s
move their products anywhere they need to go, with effi- established refrigerated programs. The proximity to rail
ciency and care,” said Richard Patenaude, president, Con- will streamline transfers, reduce dwell times, and ensure
gebec (Transport) ÅInc. temperature-sensitive goods move more efficiently, said
The facility will serve multiple clients and will streamline the company.
container handling between the Port of Vancouver and Ca- “This initiative with Congebec reflects CN’s commitment
nadian markets, while supporting future exports abroad. to building smarter, more sustainable supply chains. This
new hub will give our customers new options to move
Congebec, which already operates a facility in southeast
Calgary and has expanded westward through acquisitions their temperature-sensitive products with greater efficien-
cy, reliability, and reach, helping them compete in markets
since 2013, says this new location will serve a distinct mar- across North America and globally,” said Dan Bresolin,
ket need. The company has 16 facilities totalling 70 million
cubic feet across Canada, and says the Calgary expansion vice-president, intermodal, in a statement.
reflects growing demand for food distribution and supply Congebec’s western Canada presence
chain solutions. Congebec also has a facility on 72nd Avenue S.E. in Cal-
Congebec, which is based in Quebec City, has been in gary, acquired when it bought Westco in 2013. In 2018, it
business for just over 50 years. It provides solutions in the added more than 70,000 square feet to that facility, bring-
multi temp supply chain – the cold chain – for storing and ing it to just over 200,000 square feet.
distributing food to Canadian markets. The acquisition of Westco enabled Congebec to expand
“Our biggest growth has really been around the food and west into Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Calgary and Carberry,
food distribution in Canada, with the mission to make sure Man.
that food is accessible as well as safe for the Canadian con- “We’re always open to new things, but right now we’re
sumers,” Patenaude explained. “We work with manufac- going to focus on this CLP project, and then we’ll see what’s
turers, retailers, producers, to really try and solution their next. We don’t want to oversaturate the market either,” Pat-
cold chain requirements.” enaude said. “We’re always very careful of how we enter
Container shipping key feature for facility markets and so we always take that in consideration. So if
That extends from warehousing and value-added ser- we ever felt there was a need, we would certainly look at
vices such as co-packing, repacking or product handling what that could do, for sure. But right now, no plans.”
within the facility, to distribution through various modes of The acquisition of Westco enabled Congebec to expand
transportation. Patenaude said intermodal and rail is con- West into Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Calgary and Carberry,
sidered an area of potential future expansion for Conge- Manitoba.
bec. Earlier this year, Congebec’s acquisition of B.C.-based
The new Calgary facility is still in the planning stage to Bradner Cold Storage added Vancouver to the company’s
evaluate the right size for the centre. market reach.
“It’s not like we’re just building another cold store next “We’re obviously looking to leverage what we’re doing
to the train. To us, it’s going to be a lot more tailored to here with the CLP in Calgary, and to look at how that could
the type of intermodal import-export requirements around extend into further parts of North America as well. We’ve
containers . . . We’re actually in the process of just finaliz- been historically known as a cold storage company and
ing what that’s going to look like from dock sizes to num- really moving more into what we call a cold chain compa-
ber of rooms and temperature zones and things of that na- ny, which is involving a lot more than just the warehouse
ture,” he added. piece, looking to build complex solutions for our custom-
Patenaude said the site appealed to Congebec because ers that involve the transportation as well as the warehous-
of its connection to the CN logistics park. Items can be ing and all of the stuff that goes on within the facilities,”
shipped to the park and unloaded in the facility, thus free- Patenaude explained.
ing up the container to be reloaded or shipped elsewhere. “We really see that’s our area of growth, expanding on
“We’re trying to reimagine a little bit cold chain as it re- our total cold chain expertise and overview, as opposed to
lates to rail and total distribution,” he said. focusing strictly on cold storage as the main item.”
He said the facility will be designed to accelerate the con- Circle 26 on enquiry card
20 Vol. 41 No. 9