Rotterdam, Netherlands-headquartered Kloosterboer has acquired Columbus Spedition GmbH, a leading freight forwarder specialized in temperature-controlled food logistics based in Germany’s Port of Bremerhaven. The company organizes the loading, unloading and transport of food containers, import and export management, as well as pre- and post-transport functions. Over the past 30 years, frozen food producer FRoSTA, Würfel Spedition Beteiligungs-GmbH and SLH Sea Life Harvesting GmbH have developed Columbus into a major concern that Kloosterboer is now focused on bringing to the next level.
The acquisition of Columbus is a logical step in the strategy to further expand its integrated logistics network, according to Mark Ketelaar, Kloosterboer’s executive director for port coldstores. The company has already operated the largest public refrigerated warehousing facility in Bremerhaven for several years, right in the heart of Germany’s fish processing industry. With the growing market for cold storage services, there is increasing demand for large, flexible and reliable logistics partners that offer end-to-end solutions. As Columbus is now integrated into Kloosterboer, enhanced logistics services including multimodal freight forwarding, organizing backhaul and customs documentation are available.
“By combining vast experience in cold storage, value added warehousing services and logistics services, Kloosterboer will gain access to a scalable platform to offer our customers one-stop-shop solutions, said Columbus Spedition CEO Hinrich Windler.
The family-owned Kloosterboer Group has 95 years of experience in the handling of temperature controlled food products that run the gamut from fish and red meat to poultry, fruit, fruit juices, concentrates, vegetable and potato products, dairy foods and more. The company operates more than 4.7 million cubic meters of space offering approximately 700,000 tons of storage capacity in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Canada and South Africa.
