French Geodis announced on the 13th that it signed an agreement to acquire Gandon Transports, a leading company in the field of temperature-controlled drug transportation.
Marie-Christine Lombard, CEO of GEODIS Group, said: "This acquisition will strengthen GEODIS' position as a key player in the healthcare market. From inventory planning to temperature-controlled storage, from transportation to the final consignee, we want to provide our customers with a complete and reliable solution throughout the entire supply chain. ”
(Image source: GEODIS)
Geodis's briefing shows that Gandon Transports has won and benefited from a large number of loyal customers thanks to its expertise in the temperature-controlled transport of medicines (2/8°C and 15/25°C), and its extensive network will strengthen the distribution capacity of the GEODIS Group to pharmacies, hospitals and wholesalers across France.
Gandon Transports, which has 11 cold chain logistics, cross-station and container hubs in France, has 25,000 square meters of warehousing and transit space and 280 employees. From 2011, a special drug transport department was established, which can be packaged and delivered to all of Europe within 24 to 48 hours.
(Image source: Gandon Transports)
Their IT infrastructure system allows real-time positioning of trucks to provide feedback on the temperature inside the box every 15 minutes.
Gandon Transports' temperature-controlled transportation business is subdivided into four levels: +2°C, +8°C, +15°C and +25°C. Among them, 2/8°C business accounted for 30%, and 15/25°C business accounted for 40%.
Expansion actions by global giants
This year, the temperature-controlled refrigerated warehousing and logistics market has gradually become hot. Refrigerated storage space is becoming more and more scarce, and global giants are beginning to set off a wave of expansion.
On June 8, U.S. giant Lineage Logistics announced the acquisition of Kloosterboer Group, which has 11 warehousing centers in the Netherlands, France, Germany, South Africa and Canada, with a total storage space of 6.4 million cubic meters, can accommodate 790,000 pallet positions, and provide temperature-controlled storage, logistics and value-added services.
Seven days later, Lineage Logistics announced the acquisition of claus Sørensen Group's cold storage business, which operates nine large cold storage facilities in Denmark with a total capacity of more than 800,000 cubic meters, close to major fishing ports and food production facilities.
Vietnam, the world's third largest seafood exporter, has been cancelled since last year due to a variety of factors such as the epidemic and capacity restrictions, and Vietnam's cold storage has been overstocked and overwhelmed. Real estate services group JLL reported that current cold storage facilities in the United States are operating at high loads, and the situation is similar in Australia.
(Image source: manometcurrent.com)
The strongest driver of the rise in cold storage demand has come from the booming consumer demand for e-commerce, especially online groceries. This has intensified competition for storage facilities in adjacent residential areas.
JLL believes that the development of e-commerce in Asia has gone hand in hand with rising demand for fresh groceries. Market research firm Forrester predicts that demand for grocery delivery in the Asia-Pacific region will grow by 30% per year by 2024. In the U.S., the share of online grocery purchases is expected to more than double to 21.5 percent by 2025.
Consultancy Emergen Research expects cold storage facilities to appreciate by 13.8% per year by 2027, reaching $18.6 billion globally overall.
Many existing food warehouse facilities are outdated, inefficient and ill-suited to handle e-commerce, resulting in amplified demand for new cold chains. At the same time, growth in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, and life sciences sectors is driving this demand.
Large enterprises in the field of cold chain infrastructure construction and management have stepped up their activities. Lineage Logistics' global footprint covers more than 2.1 billion cubic feet of temperature-controlled capacity in 15 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Another giant, Americold, invested $461 million in new refrigeration facilities last year, and they also spent $2.6 billion that same year on same-industry mergers and acquisitions.
JLL noted that the globalization of the food industry is pushing logistics providers to expand their international reach. Last May, Lineage Logistics entered the Spanish market with the purchase of Frigurifricos de Navarra and refrigeration facilities from Frioastur in Gijón.
The financial community has also set its sights on warehousing, and funds for such expansions and new construction projects have easily secured funding. In March, Lineage Logistics raised $1.9 billion to support its expansion.
2020 International IARW Cold Chain Supplier Top25 List (Image Source: gcca.org)