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GOURMET NEWS
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JUNE 2023
Lineage Logistics Opens New Facility, Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth Lineage Logistics has celebrated the grand opening of its newest facility in Port Wentworth, Ga. Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth is strategically located near the Port of Savannah, the largest single-terminal container facility of its kind in North America and the third busiest container gateway in the United States. The 220,000-square-foot facility offers cross-docking services for products to enter and exit the facility on the same day if needed, reducing storage time, creating cost efficiencies and ensuring consumers receive fresh produce faster. The facility has 23 inbound and outbound lanes that can process more than 40 trucks daily, moving up to 1.4 million pounds of produce per day. “Today, the demand for port-centric temperature-controlled storage has never been greater and our Fresh solution offerings at Lineage have never been more robust. Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth will allow us to expand our fresh offering to new and existing customers and also provides the needed capacity to improve mar-
ket conditions,” said Jim Henderson, vice president of global sales and business development. “The opening of this new facility is a critical step for Lineage as we continuously work to reimagine the world’s food supply chain. “We are honored to further our long-standing partnership with Georgia Ports Authority and look forward to building our presence in the state of Georgia, an essential hub for trade and innovation.” For two years, Lineage worked closely with the Savannah Economic Development Authority, Georgia Ports Authority and the city of Port Wentworth to construct the Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth facility in addition to its port-adjacent facility on Tremont Road in Savannah. The Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth project resulted in a $78 million investment alone that created 65 new jobs, bringing Lineage’s total economic investment in Chatham County to over $100 million. To date, Lineage’s footprint in Georgia spans
over 3 million square feet. Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth was designed to address the overwhelming influx in imports of fresh produce to ports in
the Mid-Atlantic that lack the space to keep up with the demand. With proximity to the Port of Savannah, the new facility will enable Lineage to deliver larger quantities of fresh produce more efficiently to
serve customers across the Southeast. “With increasing demand for fresh produce capacity in Savannah, this new, stateof-the-art facility is a welcome addition,” said Griff Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority. “Lineage Logistics’ suite of services, such as cold-retreatment and onsite CBP inspections, will save time, help prevent loss and – ultimately – bring fresh food to market faster.” Leaders from Lineage, business partners from the state of Georgia, community leaders from the city of Port Wentworth and leadership from Georgia Ports Authority attended the facility’s grand opening. Lineage is one of the leading temperature-controlled industrial REITs and integrated solutions providers worldwide. It has a global network of over 400 strategically located facilities totaling over 2 billion cubic feet of capacity that spans 20 countries across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. GN
NW Natural Producing RNG at Second Tyson Foods Facility in Nebraska NW Natural, a subsidiary of NW Natural Holding Company, and BioCarbN, a developer and operator of environmental infrastructure projects, began production at a second renewable natural gas facility, as part of an innovative project partnership with Tyson Foods. The facility is located in Dakota City, Neb., with NW Natural investing approximately $12 million to convert methane captured from the facility’s operations into RNG to heat homes and businesses. The first project began at Tyson’s Lexington, Neb., operations in January 2022. At full capacity, the two projects combined are expected to produce about 240,000 MMBtu of RNG each year – enough RNG to provide heat for more than 5,400 homes annually. “Each project like this contributes meaningful carbon reductions on behalf of
our customers and moves us toward achieving our shared climate goals,” said David H. Anderson, NW Natural president and CEO. “We’re aggressively pursuing additional opportunities, so we can increase our use of renewables over time.” NW Natural is working toward procuring RNG equivalent to 5 percent of its Oregon sales volume in 2024 and 6 percent in 2025 as part of the company’s voluntary targets. These investments are made possible through the landmark RNG law, Oregon Senate Bill 98, which supports renewable energy procurement and investment by natural gas utilities. RNG is produced from the breakdown of organic materials such as agricultural and forestry by-products, food waste, wastewater or landfills and is a valuable form of renewable energy. RNG can provide similar climate benefits to wind and
solar, with the reliability and seasonal storage capabilities of natural gas – all while capturing, conditioning and utilizing organic material that would otherwise contribute carbon to the atmosphere. Partners for these projects include BioCarbN, an Idaho-based developer and operator of renewable energy projects and Miron Construction Co., Inc., a Wisconsin-based design-build and construction company. These projects are also made possible through pipeline interconnections with local gas distribution systems – MidAmerican Energy in Dakota City and Black Hills Energy in Lexington. NW Natural is headquartered in Portland, Ore., and has been doing business for 164 years. NW Holdings owns NW Natural, NW Natural Renewables Holdings (NW Natural Renewables), NW Natural Water Company (NW Natural Water), and
other business interests. NW Natural is a local distribution company that currently provides natural gas service to approximately 2.5 million people in more than 140 communities through nearly 795,000 meters in Oregon and Southwest Washington with one of the most modern pipeline systems in the nation. NW Natural consistently leads the industry with high J.D. Power & Associates customer satisfaction scores. NW Natural Holdings was recognized by Ethisphere in 2022 and 2023 as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. BioCarbN is an Idaho-based sustainable infrastructure project developer and operator that is focused on constructing, owning and operating turnkey RNG production, nutrient recovery and waste conversion plants. GN
UNFI Launches Climate Action Partnership United Natural Foods, Inc., has launched its Climate Action Partnership to encourage UNFI’s suppliers to make credible climate commitments. The program builds on UNFI’s Climate Action Hub, which was developed in partnership with the Climate Collaborative, a nonprofit organization with a mission to catalyze bold climate action within the grocery industry, and offers UNFI suppliers a variety of tools and resources to in-
novate and scale climate solutions across the food system. The Climate Action Partnership is one of the key pillars of UNFI’s Better for All strategy and is aligned with its validated science-based emissions reduction targets covering the organization’s operations and value chain. Through its initial outreach efforts, UNFI’s Climate Action Partnership has already confirmed more than 40 participants, including Conagra, Bob’s Red
Mill, Dr. Bronner’s, Gaia Herbs, Danone, Lundberg Family Farm and more. Suppliers must make a credible climate commitment through approved third-party organizations, including the Climate Collaborative, Climate Neutral, The Climate Pledge, the Science Based Targets initiative or the SME Climate Hub. “As one of the country’s largest wholesalers, we understand the leadership role we can play in reducing climate impact
across our value chain and the opportunity we have to facilitate collective problem solving on the most critical climate challenges,” said Alisha Real, vice president of ESG & social impact. “We can’t do it alone however, and the launch of the Climate Action Partnership is an important next step to supporting our suppliers along their respective climate journeys and ultimately, supporting UNFI on our own journey to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” GN