Few companies in the port of Antwerp will have the same luxury position as Luik Natie Coldstore. The company is doubling its storage capacity at their current company site in the port. “We’re seeing a major shortage of storage capacity,” says Stefaan Verhelst, business manager of Luik Natie Coldstore. In March 2019, the storage capacity for fruit is supposed to have been doubled.

Luik Natie Coldstore is one of the four companies that make up the Luik Natie Group. As its name suggests, this part is specialised in the storage of cooled and frozen products. The company was founded in 2001, but in its first years it hardly focused on the fruit market. This changed in 2015, when the company took its first steps in bananas.

Plans no longer shelved
“Bananas, pineapple, mango, early potatoes and chocolate,” Stefaan sums up the most important products for the cold store. The company sees a growth particularly in bananas, so that current capacity is insufficient. “Bananas are a product with a constant year-round supply,” Stefaan says. Weekly, 100 containers of bananas arrive at the company. Additionally, about 30 containers of pineapple are also unloaded. “The banana market is growing,” he continues. “That’s why we’re expanding by 7,500 square metres to a total of 15,000 square metres of cold store.”

The expansion plans were shelved for a number of years, but because of the crisis years they were shelved longer than initially planned. The site of Luik Natie Coldstore offers room to expand twice by roughly 8,000 square metres. In total, 200 lorries will then arrive at the company every day.

Serving the German market
All of the fruit is currently handled in the same building. The new building will be completely set up for bananas, although Stefaan won’t ripen the fruit. “That requires specialist knowledge we don’t have,” he explains. “It’s our challenge to set up the logistical supply chain as efficiently as possible.” The bananas and other fruit are transported to ripening plants and commercial enterprises with their own lorries. Belgium and France are their most important markets. “We have a good share of the Belgian and French markets. After the expansion, we also want to start serving the German market.”

With 15 loading docks, the bananas should be cross-docked even quicker. “We currently have five loading docks, so that the bananas now often have to be stocked before taking them out of the warehouse a few hours later,” Stefaan explains. With the expansion of the loading docks, the company catches up on efficiency. For example, a space will be kept clear near the loading docks for the bananas that arrive and are picked up on the same day. “That will be a major gain. For many companies, speed is important, and the bottleneck can be found when containers are picked up from the terminal and when they’re transported to the warehouse. Bananas can be picked up from our site much faster.”

Quick pick-ups from terminals
Due to its location in the port and their own lorries, Luik Natie can quickly pick up the containers with bananas at the terminals. “Our building is close to the Deurganckdok, so we can quickly pick up the bananas, and we’re not bothered by queues on the motorway,” Stefaan says. As soon as a ship comes in, a lorry with an empty trailer will arrive at the ship within 30 minutes to pick up the first containers. Lorries of companies located further away from the port are often stuck in queues on the motorway. “You lose a lot of time that way,” he continues. The busiest peaks on the ring surrounding the Belgian port city are between roughly 7 and 10 in the morning and between 4 and 8 in the evening. “When we load the final lorry, the biggest peaks are over.”

Sustainable energy
Expansion plans are also in place for the frozen part of the company. By 2020, the frozen storage should be expanded by 8,000 square metres in new buildings, good for 22,000 pallets. In the frozen cold store, fish and meat is stored.

Wind is the moving force behind the cooling engines. Thanks to the wind turbine on site, plenty of energy is usually generated to keep the cooling engines going. “We’re also looking at how many solar panels can be placed on our roof,” Stefaan says. There’s less wind in summer months, but sunshine is an alternative source of sustainable energy. The solar panels should be installed before next summer. Besides, a rainwater reservoir is being constructed. The water from the reservoir will be used as cooling water, so less tap water will be needed. “Sustainability is becoming more and more important,” Stefaan concludes.

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