Americold Breaks Ground on New Middleborough, Massachusetts Facility
Americold, a provider of temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics to the food industry, announced that it has broken ground on a new facility in Middleborough, Massachusetts, for its long-time partner Ocean Spray. The facility will support Ocean Spray’s production requirements for its northeast harvesting operations, specifically for Craisins dried cranberries.
Ocean Spray has been an Americold partner for nearly 40 years. As demand for the company’s array of unique, healthy products has continued to grow globally, so has the need for frozen storage and refrigeration. This new facility, adjacent to Ocean Spray’s production facility in Middleborough, now will become a key component of the distribution process for Craisins dried cranberries.
Americold’s expansion of its support for Ocean Spray is “a great example of partners coming together to develop a mutually beneficial solution for future growth,” said Fred Boehler, President & CEO of Americold.
The new facility will offer 173,000 square feet of bulk storage with three rooms operating at 0o Fahrenheit to maintain cranberry integrity from harvest to production. Design considerations took into account the high volume of incoming cranberry loads at harvest time, and freezing those cranberries to Ocean Spray’s high standards, which ensure the taste, color, and health benefits consumers know and enjoy.
“The strength of our Americold partnership comes directly from our close collaboration, and Americold’s commitment to understanding our unique needs as the global leader in cranberry products,” added Mike Stamatakos, Senior Vice President, Global Operations for Ocean Spray. “Our farmer-owners take immense care and pride in growing only the best fruit—it’s a heritage we will proudly continue with the support of business partners like Americold.”
The construction phase is underway, and, once completed, Americold will be hiring for full-and part-time positions to support the operation. The facility is expected to open in September 2018—in time for the Fall 2018 harvest.
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