RealCold, a Lakeland, Florida-based cold storage company, has acquired Forte Frozen, a national temperature-controlled warehousing and fulfillment services provider. The transaction, which closed on December 4, gives RealCold five currently operational, high-throughput facilities in strategic markets including Dallas, Texas; Ormond Beach, Florida; Clearfield, Utah; Clackamas, Oregon; and Colton, California.
This news follows RealCold’s October announcement that land was purchased in Lakeland and in Lockhart, Texas for the construction of 376,000- and 310,000-square-foot public refrigerated warehousing facilities, respectively. Both projects have broken ground and are scheduled to be operational in the first quarter of 2025.
In addition to the facilities in states listed above, RealCold will leverage Forte’s operating platform, which offers traditional cold storage and transportation services, as well as high touch fulfillment activities including direct-to-consumer (DTC).
“We are thrilled to welcome the talented Forte team to RealCold,” said CEO Keith Goldsmith. “We sought to acquire an enterprise that had an incredibly skilled workforce, a reputation that embraced exacting measurements of execution, and which embodied customer-centric values to further expand our coverage area.”
Dan Forte, chief executive offer of Forte Frozen, added: “We both have a shared vision of what cold storage can look like in the future. It is one in which value added services like DTC play a critical role in the supply chain. We are excited that this transaction will allow us to execute this vision on a grand scale, as it provides resilience, innovation and robust demonstrability – all grounded in an uncompromising customer-centric mindset.”
With Forte Frozen’s footprint, coupled with the two facilities slated to open in early 2025, RealCold have will have over 54 million cubic feet of warehouse space within reach of 77% of the United States population in two days or less with ground parcel delivery.
