Lineage Logistics inaugurated a Southern Europe headquarters in Madrid on March 17 during an event attended by the company’s regional management team, as well as European and US executive leadership and board members from Lineage’s San Francisco, California-headquartered Bay Grove parent company (pictured above).
The main office in Spain highlights Lineage’s continued investment in the region and lays the foundation for continued growth. Additionally, the increased focus in Southern Europe creates stronger connections to the cold storage specialist’s network of hubs in Northern Europe and beyond.
The new office builds on Lineage’s expanding footprint in the area, including Grupo Fuentes, one of Spain’s principal transport and cold storage logistics providers, which was acquired last September. The company’s recent investments in flight forwarding and transport fleets, along with launched services focused on fresh produce, will help to connect Europe’s food supply chain more efficiently and offer customers one-stop-shop solutions when moving products south to north and beyond.
“Spain is the door to Southern Europe and one of the continent’s main markets for fresh produce. Lineage has chosen to invest in our presence here to better meet the needs of our customers in Europe and worldwide,” said Raul Fores Valles, the company’s newly appointed regional vice president for logistics in Southern Europe. “Our new offices in Madrid will help us leverage our recent investments in transport and freight forwarding services to more efficiently connect customers to the world.”
Lineage first entered the European market in 2017 and now has a strong network there of over 70 cold chain facilities in 11 countries, including six facilities in Spain, two in Italy and three in France. The company has made significant investments in its Southern European footprint and transport fleet, connecting customers to hubs in Northern Europe and beyond. The company first entered Spain in May of 2021, with the acquisition of warehouses in Navarra and Asturias from Frigoíficos de Navarra and Frioastur.
Strengthened North Atlantic Seafood Market Link
Elsewhere in Europe, on March 15 Lineage officially opened an expanded cold storage facility in the Port of Aarhus, Denmark, strengthening its network of key port locations and providing customers with an efficient link between the seafood markets in the North Atlantic and the rest of the world.
The expansion adds 18,000 pallet capacity for a total of 27,500 pallet spaces, with room for further expansion to meet need. This will provide customers, including producers of fish and shellfish, with streamlined storage for their products at a key location connecting the import and export of seafood, linking Greenland and Denmark to the global market. The Aarhus facility is equipped to handle many types of food products, but specializes in receiving, handling and exporting seafood, pork and dairy products.
“Aarhus represents another strategic port location that can serve as a gateway for our customers to markets around the world. Lineage continues to invest where we believe we can provide our customers with the best end-to-end logistics solution,” said Nordics Regional Vice President Carsten Wolf.
The expanded facility represents the only cold storage warehouse located within the port and gives Lineage clients access to a key entry point to the Danish market, with significant parts of Danish consumer goods entering via the Port and Danish exports shipped via the Port to the rest world. The Port of Aarhus is the only port in Denmark capable of docking the largest container ships. The facility upgrade and port infrastructure connect multiple supply chains and allow Lineage’s customers’ products to remain in the port before moving on to their final destination, thus ensuring the safety and security of goods and reducing transport costs.
