A £6 million fresh produce terminal is to be built in the Port of Liverpool, ready for September.
The Liverpool Produce Terminal (LPT) will initially offer a cost effective all-water alternative to the 300 trucks arriving in the UK with fruit from Spain every day, and act as a hub for the north of England.
The 90,000sqft cool store will be operated by Go-Associates, with input from logistics operator Cold Move, and International Controlled Atmosphere. The quayside facility will be equipped with four individually controlled chambers with a temperature range of -5°C to 14°C, and will have the capability to discharge a 4,000-pallet ship in 24 hours.
Lewis Clements, joint managing director of Go-Associates, said: “Ten million tonnes of fresh produce are shipped into the UK each year, and half of it comes up to the north of England. It makes economic and environmental sense to bring that volume to the deep-sea port that is closest to the population of 30m people, and is served by the best motorway network for rapid distribution direct to supermarkets.
“Spain supplies the UK with 2mt of fresh produce every year. A million tonnes of that goes to the north of the country - most of it by road, on trucks carrying just 26 pallets each from the main growing areas of Spain.
“The situation cries out for high volume direct delivery by sea, into a state-of-the-art fresh produce terminal, ideally located to reach any part of this vast market.”
Frank Robotham, marketing director of Peel Ports Group, which owns and operates the Port of Liverpool, said: “The new terminal creates a unique opportunity for Peel Ports to provide both northern and southern gateways into the UK’s fresh produce market, through its ports at Liverpool and Sheerness in Kent.”
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