Mining the rich potential of the Mekong River Delta

Seafood production is a billion dollar business with good growth potential and Preferred Freezer Services (PFS) wants to play a key role in it. It has launched the first of several facilities in Vietnam for the storage of refrigerated products.

“Food safety is a global concern. Traditionally in emerging markets, you have spoilage rate from farm to table top of 50%. Vietnam is still a fresh market economy. A facility like this is able to raise standard for domestic distribution of food to protect people’s heath,” noted Winston A. Barrie, Managing Director, Preferred Freezer Services.

Built jointly by Antara (Vietnam) Company Limited and Preferred Freezer Services, LLC, the cold storage is the first wholly foreign owned warehouse in Vietnam. At 92,129 sq. metres, it is the largest single room cold store in South-east Asia. “One single room is better for airflow and better for product management,” said Mr Barrie. It also has one of the largest truck yards and the largest refrigerated loading and unloading dock in Vietnam. He considers this size to be optimal. “With our economies of scale, we are able to provide services to our customer base.”

Constructed over two years, the new facility is the culmination of a long-held dream. Antara (Vietnam) Company Limited, in which Mr Barrie is also managing director, obtained the plum site just 15 minutes away from the centre of Ho Chi Minh in 1997. However, plans to build a cold storage were put on a back burner following the Asian Crisis. It was revitalised in mid 2000. Preferred Freezer Services, LLC, the third largest refrigerated warehouse company in North America and the seventh largest globally, came on board as an operating partner, while the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and its Dutch counterpart, FMO, extended PFS long-term loans for the construction. As there were few professionally managed refrigerated storage facilities in the region, it was felt that the PFS would benefit a variety of industries and needs, particularly Vietnam’s seafood industry.

PFS is ideally placed to lock into the industry’s demand. The new Phu My Bridge, which was opened in late 2009, connects PFS to the southern Mekong delta region, where the bulk of seafood exports originates, as well as the central and northern parts of Vietnam. The facility is also next to the Cat Lai Port and within easy reach of Vietnam International Container Terminal and DP World’s Saigon Premier Container Terminal, key gateways for Vietnam’s foreign trade.


Premier cold store
Certified to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), the cold storage is targeted at anyone who is looking for a quality service. Extending 17½ metres high, it provides 23,875 pallet locations in a single room. Like all Preferred’s new facilities in the US and China, the high density storage facility is fully automated, as it reduces the need for labour and energy, while improving on the level of accuracy.

Racks for the very narrow aisle automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) are provided by SSI Schaefer following a five-way pitch. “Schaefer won on service and price. Schaefer came in and performed their job in a timely and professional manner, and supported our needs and requirements,” said Mr Barrie.

On arrival at the warehouse, the goods are checked. Those that need to be repacked are sent to the repacking room; otherwise they are automatically stowed away in a location assigned by the warehouse management system. Confidentiality is maintained as no one sees the pallets once they are located    put away.

Every effort is made to ensure the integrity of the cold chain. Temperature in the freezer is maintained at -20 to -25 degrees C, while the loading dock is at +5 degrees C. At 1,623 sq. metres, the loading dock is the biggest in the industry, allowing products to be easily staged. It enables PFS to eliminate some of the unsavoury practices of the cold chain in Vietnam, where stuffing and unstuffing often take place under the full glare of the sun. All loading docks are equipped with insulated doors and mechanical dock levellers and seals to ensure the temperature is maintained at +5 degrees C.

The facility is designed for fast turnaround. The truck yard is one of the biggest around, which ensures easy manoeuvrability, while the cold store is equipped with 16 dock doors.

Customers have full visibility of their transactions with PFS. They can check their products quantity as well as all documents online.

Going ahead
With annual revenues exceeding US$4 billion, Vietnam is among the top 10 seafood exporters in the world. While scrimps and Pangasius, a kind of catfish, accounts for about half the total, the Ministry of Science and Technology said Vietnam has developed technologies for producing 60 aquatic species, including the higher valued Pacific oyster, mud crab and giant barb.

This development augurs well for PFS. Said Mr Barrie, “The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters & Producers anticipates seafood volume to double. We will continue to growth the business in Vietnam. We envisaged seven facilities in the long term. The goal is to supply customers with an integrated cold chain to support more development and growth in Vietnam.”

http://www.preferredfreezer.com/