Midwest Refrigerated Services (MRS), Lactalis USA and Consolidated Construction Company cut the ribbon to officially open a 200,000-square foot distribution center in Belvidere, Ill. on Wednesday, Feb. 26. The facility, owned and operated by MRS, will optimize Lactalis USA’s Midwest logistics network to meet its current and future growth by operating as a central site to service all customers in the region. The distribution center sits on an 83-acre site that is served by Union Pacific Railroad and provides more than 36,000 pallet positions of refrigerated storage with state-of-the-art layer picking technology. This facility will receive product from ten Lactalis production facilities across the U.S. and several domestic co-manufacturer facilities, along with imported product from Europe. It’s MRS’ second location in the Belvidere market and creates 85 new jobs.
“The Midwest team is excited to add this new facility to our network, said Mike Pokel, President of Midwest Refrigerated Services, in a recent press release. “We are humbled and honored by the confidence Lactalis has shown in selecting us for this important project. This state-of-the-art facility will anchor the Belvidere site and is a significant step forward in our growth plans. Special thanks to Mayor Morris and his staff at the City of Belvidere in supporting us throughout this process.”
Lactalis USA is a subsidiary of Lactalis, the world’s largest dairy company, headquartered in Laval, France with production facilities in 51 countries worldwide, and offers an unrivaled house of beloved brands in the U.S. including Galbani®, Président®, Kraft® brands in natural and grated cheeses, Stonyfield Organic® and others.
“Lactalis continues to grow in the U.S. and has added seven manufacturing locations since 2017,” said Sri Adapa, vice president, supply chain, Lactalis USA. “To accommodate this accelerated growth, we need an optimized logistics network with a location in the center of the country that increases our efficiencies and streamlines order fulfillment for our customers in the Midwest. This allows customers to receive a single shipment of products that originate from multiple production locations in the U.S., when it would have required multiple shipments in the past.”
Consolidated Construction Company, headquartered in Appleton, WI, and longtime partner of MRS, was the design-build contractor for this facility. “We have worked with Consolidated for more than 30 years and we certainly appreciate and value the partnership,” Pokel added. “They are integral to this project’s success and have worked diligently from beginning to end to help get us to this milestone within the communicated schedule.”
