In six years, NewCold has gone from zero to three of the most advanced temperature-controlled warehouses in the United States, with a fourth set to become operational in mid-2024.
NewCold was already well established in Europe when the company built its first tall, highly automated plant in Tacoma, Washington.
January 18, 2024 marks six years since the first pallet was received in 2018. At the time of its founding, NewCold Tacoma was considered one of the most energy efficient and technologically advanced North American automated warehouses in the United States.
NewCold Tacoma is the result of Founder and CEO Bram Hage's vision to bring our advanced automated solutions and proprietary technologies to one of the world's largest markets. Hage founded NewCold in 2012 with the mission to create the most customer-centric, advanced and fully integrated automation and supply chain company.
Through numerous negotiations, a relationship was formed in 2014 between NewCold and a food manufacturer who became NewCold Tacoma's first customer. Jonas Swartau, NewCold's executive vice president of commercial affairs and chairman of the board of directors for North America, moved from the Netherlands to the United States the following year to lead the NewCold team and establish an intensive and close collaboration with the customer. The client's team was led by the CFO and Mike Shougo, who later joined NewCold as executive vice president of North American operations.
Three members of what is now NewCold's North American regional management team were involved in establishing the Tacoma facility, although each was employed by a different organization at the time. As we reflect on where we are today in NewCold's journey, we recognize that Shougo (customer), Josh Curry (contractor) and Jonas Swartau (at NewCold) were key players in these early stages of NewCold's entry into the North American market.
Today, Tacoma serves five customers and is operating at full capacity. Over the past six years, the facility has shipped and received more than 3.4 million pallets and more than five billion pounds. It consistently meets operational KPIs and business goals, and delivered a 99.52% on-time load rate for all customers in 2023.
