Dachser adds more floor space for food....

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Logistics provider Dachser is investing roughly EUR 50 million in three sites in Germany: Langenau, Kornwestheim, and Schönefeld.

Kempten, August 22, 2013. As the new European Food Network is launched, Dachser is heavily investing in its Food Logistics business field. At three locations in Germany, the logistics provider simultaneously started up new facilities in the summer of 2013 for the transshipment and storage of food.

A new 5,200 square meter transit terminal and a 7,500 square meter high bay storage facility with 15,000 palette storage spaces has been operating in Langenau since October 2012. “The first palettes were put into stock mid-August; the new transit terminal is up and running,” explains Robert Mittermeier, Branch Manager of Operations at the Ulm logistics center. Over the last few years, Dachser’s Swabian facility, just off the A7 autobahn, has evolved into one of the largest food warehouses in the corporation: currently in Langenau, a total of 54,000 food-laden pallets can be stored in various temperature zones.

Dachser steadily expanded its food logistics business in Kornwestheim near Stuttgart as well, so that after only eight years, it became urgently necessary to relocate into a larger transit terminal. “Sausage and ham from the Black Forest, along with other Swabian delicacies, are shipped out of Kornwestheim to locations all over Europe. We have an additional 6,000 square meters of logistics floor space for our customers, with a temperature range of two to seven degrees. One part of the hall was additionally equipped with shelving,” says branch manager Bernd Schäfer. “The prior food transit terminal was converted into a warehouse. This means that we can now offer our Kornwestheim customers food storage capacity in different temperature ranges.”

Dachser’s Logistics Center Berlin, in Schönefeld, also offers more floor space for food. A 7,200 square meter transit terminal for food was put into operation in June. This facility allows 76 trucks to be loaded and unloaded simultaneously. “Our focus is sustainable growth. For this reason, we equipped the transit area with energy-saving LED lighting technology. As a result, the branch has reduced its annual CO₂ consumption by roughly 48 tons,” reports branch manager Olaf Schmidt. At Logistics Center Berlin, Dachser has taken over procurement and distribution of the coffee segment for the Dallmayr Company. This endeavor also includes an array of additional services – such as constructing display cartons and mixed cartons, as well as quality controls.

“Dachser Food Logistics has grown steadily over the past few years; in 2012 alone, we achieved an increase in sales of over 13 percent,” affirms Alfred Miller, Managing Director of Dachser Food Logistics. “We anticipate additional growth momentum with the launch of the European Food Network and the vivengo product group on October 1. In preparation for this, we had to acquire additional capacity in a timely manner—as we did in Langenau, Kornwestheim and Schönefeld for EUR 50 million, for example. This is the only way we can maintain stable operations in our network during the peak capacity periods of four-day weeks, and offer our customers a consistently high level of service quality at the same time.”