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  • 🧊 CubeCold appoints new leadership team and expands into Spain

🧊 CubeCold appoints new leadership team and expands into Spain

April 04, 2025

Welcome back to CubeCold News where we cover the latest developments in the cold chain industry and temperature-controlled logistics.

In today’s edition:

  • CubeCold announces new leadership team

  • CubeCold acquires Grupo Frimercat in Spanish market expansion

  • DHL Group acquires CRYOPDP to strengthen healthcare logistics

  • Lineage acquires Bellingham Cold Storage, expanding Pacific Northwest footprint

  • Magnavale Easton: UK's largest cold storage facility opens

  • The rise in temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals

CubeCold

CubeCold announces new leadership team CubeCold appointed three key executives to drive its growth strategy.

  • Dave Moore will serve as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Elizabeth (Liz) Gildea as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Paul Jukes as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

  • The new leadership team brings decades of combined experience in temperature-controlled logistics, financial transformation, and operational excellence, with a strong track record in driving growth, innovation, and performance across the cold storage and logistics industry.

  • Hardip Rai, the Executive Chairman of CubeCold, expressed confidence in the team's ability to achieve CubeCold's growth ambitions.

  • Since its formation in 2022 with backing from I Squared Capital, CubeCold has rapidly expanded through acquisitions and organic growth to become one of Europe's largest cold storage groups, operating across the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and the UK. (CubeCold)

CubeCold acquires Grupo Frimercat in Spanish market expansion CubeCold has acquired Barcelona-based Grupo Frimercat, establishing its presence in Spain.

  • This strategic move adds over 50,000 pallet positions to CubeCold's existing portfolio of 450,000 pallet places across Europe.

  • Grupo Frimercat, with 25+ years of experience, is the top player in Mercabarna (Barcelona's main food wholesale hub) and employs more than 170 people.

  • Paul Jukes, CubeCold's COO, describes the acquisition as a key strategic step for Spanish expansion.

  • Grupo Frimercat's leadership, including Chairman Jaime Blanqué Gil and Managing Director Jordi Fabregat, view the integration as an opportunity to enhance services and operational capacity. (CubeCold)

News

DHL Group acquires CRYOPDP to strengthen healthcare logistics DHL Group has announced the acquisition of CRYOPDP from Cryoport, Inc., marking a significant expansion of its life sciences and healthcare logistics capabilities.

  • CRYOPDP specializes in white-glove courier services for clinical trials, biopharma, and cell and gene therapies, handling over 600,000 shipments annually across 135 countries from operations in 15 countries.

  • This acquisition enhances DHL's specialty pharma logistics services and aligns with the company's Strategy 2030 goal to become a global leader in life science and healthcare logistics.

  • Simultaneously, DHL and Cryoport are forming a strategic partnership that will combine DHL's global logistics network with Cryoport's specialized solutions.

  • This collaboration will allow DHL to deliver integrated end-to-end solutions while helping Cryoport expand its reach in growth markets like Asia Pacific and EMEA.

  • The transaction is pending regulatory approvals. (DHL Group)

Lineage acquires Bellingham Cold Storage, expanding Pacific Northwest footprint Lineage, Inc., the world's largest temperature-controlled warehouse REIT, has acquired Bellingham Cold Storage (BCS), adding three Washington state facilities totaling 85,000 pallet positions to its network.

  • The acquisition includes the Bellingham Waterfront Warehouse Center, Orchard/I-5 Warehouse Center, and Burlington Dry location, strategically enhancing Lineage's presence at the Port of Bellingham—a crucial hub for seafood and agricultural products.

  • This expansion complements Lineage's existing 40 facilities across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

  • Brian Beattie, President of North America West at Lineage, emphasized that the acquisition will improve customer service in the Pacific Northwest, while Doug Thomas, BCS's President and CEO, expressed confidence in Lineage's stewardship of the 79-year-old business.

  • Lineage committed to maintaining BCS's community presence in Bellingham and strengthening its relationship with the Port of Bellingham, particularly during the Port's ongoing modernization project. (Lineage)

Magnavale Easton: UK's largest cold storage facility opens Magnavale has officially opened its Easton facility, the UK's largest cold storage warehouse, with capacity for 101,000 frozen pallet positions.

  • Opened on March 24, 2025, this development revitalizes a long-standing food production site near Grantham, Lincolnshire.

  • The facility stands out as one of the UK's only fully renewable-energy-powered cold storage operations.

  • According to Amanda Cogan, COO of Magnavale, the facility aims to reduce costs, risks, and complexity in customer supply chains while supporting sustainable growth in the local economy.

  • Strategically located off the A1 between Grantham and Peterborough, Magnavale Easton offers comprehensive services including blast freezing and contract packing as part of a larger Food Hub concept which integrates food production and processing with supply chain operations. (Magnavale)

The rise in temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals At the ISTA Forum in Orlando, industry experts highlighted the growing demand for temperature-controlled pharmaceutical shipping.

  • According to Chris Anderson of Cardinal Health, U.S. pharmaceutical sales reached $814.7 billion in 2024, with four of the top five products requiring refrigeration.

  • Most notably, GLP-1 medications used for diabetes and weight loss have seen a 300% increase in prescriptions between 2018-2023.

  • The mail order drug market now represents 28.4% of US pharmaceutical sales ($230.2 billion), with four of the top five mail order drugs also requiring refrigeration.

  • Industry panelists emphasized the importance of proper packaging, training, correct pack-out procedures, and taking a risk-based approach. (Healthcare Packaging)

Other headlines

Vertical Cold Storage acquired Arctic Logistics in Detroit metro area, expanding its North American cold storage network with a 140,000 sq ft facility strategically positioned to support US-Canada cross-border trade in frozen food products.

CEVA Logistics launched new tri-weekly air charter service connecting Wuxi, China to Chicago, enhancing its global freight capacity with options for diverse cargo and sustainable aviation fuel.

SeaCube Containers launched SeaCube Cold Solutions, offering portable temperature-controlled storage containers with nationwide availability.

Vienna Airport's Pharma Handling Centre is enhancing cold chain logistics with advanced temperature control technology, seamless air-road integration, and sustainable operations to meet growing pharmaceutical shipping demand.

FRIDGE Act was reintroduced in Congress to secure federal funding for cold chain infrastructure improvements, aiming to reduce agricultural export losses and expand into new markets.

Carrier Transicold launched Lynx Fleet mobile app giving drivers real-time access to cargo temperature, location, and status data previously available only to fleet managers.

That’s it for today!

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