Emergent Cold (“Emergent”), the world’s fastest growing cold chain solutions company, announced its acquisition of New Orleans Cold Storage (“NOCS”). The acquisition marks Emergent’s entry into the United States and lays the foundation to build out a comprehensive network of regional distribution and import/export port facilities across North America.
Since 1886, NOCS has been the door to the world for international food companies by specializing in temperature controlled export and import services for global food processors and traders. Operating from four key port facilities on the Southeast seaboard and Gulf of Mexico, NOCS offers a one-stop export process, including transportation to the port, blast freezing and warehousing, certification and documentation, and stevedoring; an equally seamless service streamlines inbound shipments destined for U.S. markets.
Upon completion of the acquisition, NOCS will continue to be led by CEO Mark Blanchard and the current management team. NOCS will be the third regional platform for Emergent Cold in addition to current operations in Asia Pacific and Latin America. Emergent Cold will leverage the long term relationships and quality service provided by NOCS to build out a complete North American network to serve Emergent’s rapidly growing global customer base with a seamless network of global cold stores.
Mark Blanchard, NOCS’ President and CEO commented: “Through this transaction, our 133 year old company will enter into an exciting new chapter. This is a tremendous opportunity for our associates as well as our customers. We hope to bring the level of customer service and customer relationships which NOCS is known for to many more locations throughout North America, and to support our existing customers with the same services globally.”
Emergent Cold was founded in 2017 with the vision to be the leading global cold chain services partner for its customers and is already among the largest temperature controlled service providers in the southern hemisphere. Emergent Cold has grown through a combination of acquisitions and greenfield developments and has a network of 46 cold stores in six countries.
Neal Rider, CEO of Emergent Cold, said: “We are ecstatic to enter North America with this investment in NOCS. NOCS perfectly fits our objective of serving global customers with the highest quality of service and care. We will work with Mark and his team to grow the NOCS network of cold stores and services to be an even more valuable partner to both NOCS customers globally and Emergent’s global customers into North America.”