STORD AND FRESH DEL MONTE COLLABORATION ADDRESES COLD CHAIN FULFILLMENT NEEDS

Stord’s Cloud Supply Chain to use Fresh Del Monte’s proven cold storage infrastructure as an expanded offering to brands requiring temperature or humidity-controlled logistics. (by MMH Staff from GCCA News, edited by ARPI)

Stord, which offers a cloud-based supply chain fulfillment network solution, and Fresh Del Monte, a global producer, distributor, and marketer of food products, today announced a collaboration that will utilize Stord’s Cloud Supply Chain solution and Fresh Del Monte’s cold storage infrastructure.

Fresh Del Monte has 22 best-in-class facilities that are now available to Stord customers and integrated with Stord’s cloud technology, the partners stated.

With this collaboration, Stord said it is furthering its mission of making supply chains a competitive advantage for all brands, bringing Stord’s Cloud Supply Chain innovation for ambient goods to the cold fulfillment space. Demand for cold storage is increasing rapidly as grocery sales via e-commerce channels continue to rise, Stord explained. As of last Fall, refrigerated and frozen foods accounted for 9% and 13%, respectively, of total e-commerce grocery sales, up from 4% for each category in early 2020, Stord added.

While most brands still struggle to piece together disparate logistics solutions and disconnected technology, with Cloud Supply Chain, Stord states it offers all the physical logistics and digital technology that brands need in a scalable utility-based model. Now, brands selling frozen, refrigerated, and chilled products achieve the same best-in-class operations that hundreds of Stord customers—like BODYARMOR, Thrasio, Dollar General, Native, and Advance Auto Parts—currently enjoy, Stord added.

“Our customers trust Stord to support their most critical operations. Whenever we bring a new partner into our network, we make sure that they uphold the highest standards of reliability and quality,” said Stord CEO and Co-founder Sean Henry. “Fresh Del Monte is a well-respected leader in the cold storage space, and we have complete confidence that this relationship will be a big win for our customers.”

Fresh Del Monte has been looking for additional ways to grow its distribution network and leverage underutilized assets, including shipping vessels, transportation vehicles, warehouses, and now its cold storage infrastructure. Through the relationship, Fresh Del Monte will provide Stord customers access to its large-scale, complex supply chain infrastructure, and cold storage facilities. While Fresh Del Monte is known for providing fresh produce, it has other business lines that are powerhouses on their own, particularly its logistics network. The company owns Network Shipping, a third-party shipping network that transports goods across the world; and Tricont Trucking and Tricont Logistics, which utilize the company’s ships, ports, and temperature-controlled warehouses strategically located throughout 34 facilities in North America.

“We’re proud to work with Stord to bring our state-of-the-art cold infrastructure to scaling businesses,” said Fresh Del Monte Chairman and CEO Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh. “We have an impressive logistics infrastructure, and it only makes sense to collaborate with a company like Stord as we continue to leverage our assets and grow our distribution network.”

Stord concluded that today’s announcement further cements Fresh Del Monte’s mission to continuously leverage its underutilized assets while also underscoring Stord’s continued momentum, which involves Stord increasing its network capacity and extending its Series D round to over $200 million in funding.

ARPI Note: since last year, the Indonesian cold chain industry has emerged as star-up industry that focuses its business as a provider of fresh products by using a fulfillment service system from the first mile to the last mile. This treatment will help reduce the percentage of food loss. Meanwhile, the business of making mini cold storage package in a warehousing industrial area as a storage hub at the point of the food delivery package collection chain is also starting to develop.