Interview Aloys Putmans
'There is still enough space in cold stores'
There is a lot of unrest about the situation in the cold stores: is there still enough space to absorb the surpluses due to the corona crisis? For an answer to this question, we spoke to Aloys Putmans, CEO of the Association of Dutch Cold-storage and Freezing Houses (Nekovri).
In the Netherlands, Nekovri is the most important organization in the field of temperature-sensitive products. Members of the trade association are refrigeration and freezing, storage and transport companies and cold stores. A total of 135 companies are connected, which together have a storage capacity of 15 million cubic meters.
We hear noises that cold stores in the Netherlands are overcrowded, what is the truth here?
'There is still sufficient storage capacity in the Netherlands. We usually take into account an average occupancy rate of 80%. The 'free' 20% is then used to absorb logistical setbacks, for peaks during seasonal harvests and a crisis like this. We take into account that the occupancy rate can rise to 87% during the corona crisis, but that is not a dramatic situation.'
So the sounds of full cold stores is mood-setting?
'We have noticed that there is unrest in the market. This is of course largely due to the stagnation of the catering industry. Products that could normally be sold immediately, are now left lying around for much longer. There are also (small) companies and entrepreneurs who normally hardly use storage, who are now calling whether they can still store their products with us. Sometimes it only concerns a number of pallets, but this does not have to cause any problems. Whether they want to store 4 or 10 pallets: cold stores still have room for tens of thousands of pallets. A few more or less on average capacity will not have disastrous consequences. The crucial question is for how long, because we do have a schedule.'
What then is the difficulty?
'The difficult thing about storage in cold stores is the difference between the two and the products that have to be stored. When freezing, the product must be frozen as quickly as possible, in the correct way to maintain the quality. Cooling is a different story, this is much more product-oriented, which means that a lot of product knowledge is required. For example, a living product, such as apples, is put into a kind of 'coma'. They are cooled in a specific way, so that the growth process in the apple comes to a standstill.'
'With dairy products such as butter, that's a different story, because you don't have to deal with a growth process. In addition to this difference, we also have to deal with contamination; or the possibility that one product will affect the taste and appearance of another product. Just think of red currants and garlic, these cannot be stored together because the garlic has an effect on the berries. It is therefore possible that a cold store cannot store a certain product, because they cannot guarantee the quality due to possible contamination.'
If a cold store does become full, is there a solution?
'The Netherlands has a large number of cold stores. These are, of course, distributed across the country. What you can ultimately see is that a cold store near the entrepreneur is reaching its capacity, or is unable to store the product due to contamination. Then another storage location has to be looked at. Normally they can store the products within a radius of 5 kilometres, now that is perhaps 40 kilometres. In principle, a full cold store in the area should therefore not be a problem.'
So we don't have to worry just yet?
“Not in principle. There is still sufficient capacity, it just requires a lot of organisation. Sometimes it may not be possible to solve it regionally, then we need to look a bit further. Some of our members also have cells in Belgium that they can make available in case of emergency. The Ministry of Agriculture has also contacted us with a view to intervention measures and this is possible.'
Jorine Cosse
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