Congébec Putting Customers First
in the Cold Chain

Congébec Logistics knows the cold chain inside and out. As the largest public refrigerated storage company in the province and third largest in Canada, the company has built its reputation on providing reliable, first-rate warehousing and distribution warehousing services to the Canadian market. This level of performance is especially noteworthy for a company that has kept true to its family roots despite significant expansion over the years.

BY DENISE J. DEVEAU

‘‘Since the company was founded by my father in 1974, we’ve seen very steady growth,” says General Manager Nick Pedneault. “In 1997, however, we realized there just wasn’t enough cold storage to meet market demand so we knew that was something we wanted to pursue,” explains Pedneault. “At the time, warehouses simply weren’t doing a good job because demand exceeded supply. A lot of storage companies were taking advantage of that and not offering the best service.”
   Congébec saw that as an opportunity to improve the quality of service in the industry. “Once we purchased a facility in Montreal, we really started to see very significant growth and began expanding our sites to serve customers in different regions of the province,” says Pedneault.
   Acquisitions became part of the business plan over the next few years, as Congébec continued to add to its cold storage warehousing portfolio and grew its staff from 10 to 150. In recent years it also expanded its distribution across Canada and is now tackling international markets. Every day, for example, it ships 10 to 15 loads of product to customers in the U.S., Japan, China, Russia, South Africa and other locations.
   Today Congébec is the only company in Canada to offer cold storage services in three areas (Montreal, South Shore of Montreal and Quebec City). It operates six modern distribution centres, including three in Quebec City (245,000 sq. ft.), one in Montreal (115,000 sq. ft.), one in Boucherville (160,000 sq. ft.) and one in Ste-Julie (230,000 sq. ft.) – all of which are located near main highways, ports and major food chain warehouses.
   Its public storage services are used by clients from all major food chain operations, including producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, restaurant chains and brokers, among others. Major customers include McCain, ConAgra, Maple Leaf, Olymel and others. Services range from controlled-temperature storage, blast freezing and cross docking to export/import logistics (e.g., customs and inspections), order preparation and inventory management among other specialty offerings.    Congébec also runs a fully adapted transportation fleet to meet the requirements of the logistics needs of the cold chain. The company partially uses its own fleet for local deliveries, and contracts out of province shipments through a range of third-party suppliers. Deliveries are made to distribution centres of major grocery chains across the country.
   As operations grew, Pedneault says, Congébec has continued to gain expertise in the whole cold chain process. “We store all kinds of food involved in the cold chain at very different levels. We get involved in the procurement side and handle a lot of raw materials from around the world. We also get involved in the distribution side of finished goods for customers.”
   Currently 98% of Congébec’s inventory at any given time is frozen products. While some products are kept as raw materials and then shipped to processors when required, other items such as meat are also returned to the facilities in the form of frozen meat pies and other finished products.
   One of the fastest growing commodities going through the Congébec system these days is cranberries destined for juice and dried fruit processing plants. The facilities currently receive millions of pounds of cranberries a year from local producers.    In fact, the cranberry business has expanded so much, plans are in the works to open a seventh warehousing facility between Montreal and Quebec City this summer that will be mostly dedicated to the industry. “It makes more sense to have a presence closer to where the product is being harvested,” says Pedneault.
    He adds that over the years, the company has laid a solid groundwork so it can meet the changing needs of the logistics industry as a whole. “A lot of things are changing. Many companies, for example, are getting rid of their logistics departments and outsourcing all of their cold-chain requirements. They are now asking us to take over all the transportation, warehousing and distribution functions.”
   The move to outsourcing transportation and warehousing functions is proving much more economical and efficient for today's food suppliers, he adds. “It takes a lot of capital to build a warehouse.