West Pak Avocado is pleased to reveal a new addition to its network of facilities throughout the country. Located in Swedesboro, New Jersey, this latest full-service distribution center will offer ripening, bagging, repacking, and cold storage services and will service the Northeast and Midsouth regions of the United States.
“With the ever-growing demand for avocados, we saw the need to further expand our operations,” said West Pak Avocado CEO Mario Pacheco. “Our East Coast addition was 18 months in the making with plans to open early 2022. Its strategic placement will enhance our national distribution network and bring added value and convenience to our customers.”
Pacheco continued, “The proximity of Swedesboro to the Port of Philadelphia will also support our import programs from Peru, Chile, and Colombia. Plus, the addition of this facility increases our supply chain efficiencies with direct shipments from our packing facility in Uruapan, Michoacán to our New Jersey distribution center.”
“There are many strategic reasons we chose this location,” added West Pak Avocado Vice President of Operations Trevor Newhouse. “Consumption continues to rise in the Northeast and Midsouth, and the outlook for continued year-over-year growth is very promising. Our Swedesboro location will offer a valuable one-day service radius to the majority of the Northeast and Midsouth regions.”
In addition to its prime location and access to excellent skilled labor, Newhouse points out that the New Jersey facility features state-of-the-art information and technology systems connectivity, LED lighting, energy-efficient refrigeration, and roll over and redundancy on all core components. The new distribution center is also part of an automated energy management system that West Pak is rolling out nationwide. The system dovetails with West Pak’s ongoing sustainability efforts to help keep the company’s carbon footprint at a minimum.
When asked about the overall undertaking of the new facility, Newhouse replied, “The planning process has been a great experience. We essentially took all the knowledge accumulated from all our previous builds, projects, etc., removed everything we didn’t like, and expanded everything we did like. This route allowed us to maximize process flow, layouts, and efficiency throughout the facility.”
West Pak Avocado’s Swedesboro, New Jersey distribution center is slated to open in the first quarter of 2022, with a grand opening planned in March.
