Leading supermarket chain to open new cold storage and distribution centre
SPINNEYS BREAKS GROUND IN KHALIFA INDUSTRIAL ZONE ABU DHABI
Spinneys, one of the UAE’s leading fresh food supermarket chains , broke ground yesterday in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), marking the beginning of construction of its new cold storage and distribution centre.
The centre, which is planned to be operational by Q1 2015, is being built on a 382,905 sq. ft. plot of land in Kizad’s logistics cluster, where Spinneys will operate a dedicated cold storage and distribution centre to manage food and non-food products and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) destined for both UAE stores and international markets.
The facility will feature latest technologies and operate in line with international best practices. As part of the high tech infrastructure, monitoring and review systems will be implemented, allowing active reviews of all resources while facilitating quick responses.
The use of highly insulated exterior cladding, double airlock systems for the truck receiving, and further insulation within the building will ensure that the different temperature zones in the storage spaces are kept low and stable.
While 70% of these spaces will be kept below 10 degrees Celsius, the other 30% will be kept below 4 degrees Celsius to guarantee adequate storage environments and the high quality and freshness of the stored goods.
“After having successfully completed phase one of the Kizad Logistics Park (KLP) a few weeks ago, today’s ground-breaking ceremony of Spinneys marks a further move of our vastly developing logistics cluster”, said Engineer Khaled Salmeen, CEO, Kizad, at the ceremony.
“I am very confident that Spinneys – as one of the leading supermarket chains in the region – will perfectly integrate into Kizad and take advantage of our economies of proximity and comprehensive multimodal transportation network”, Salmeen added.
“Being located in Kizad will give us the opportunity to further grow our business by enabling us to get our products from international markets faster and more efficiently”, said Jannie Holtzhausen, CEO, Spinneys Dubai LLC.
“It is this mixture of low operating costs, an ease-of-doing-business climate and excellent market access through the adjacent Khalifa Port that makes Kizad a highly attractive destination from which we will be able to tackle both urban and rural markets very effectively”, Holtzhausen concluded.
