Americold Celebrates Grand Opening of First Cold Storage Facility at CPKC Terminal (UPDATED, 8/12)
On April 30, the temperature-controlled logistics company officially broke ground on the new $127 million cold storage facility at Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s (CPKC) IFG Terminal in Kansas City, Mo.
Americold, which first announced plans to develop the facility in February, expects to create nearly 190 new jobs in the region. The new 335,000-square-foot facility in Kansas City is part of a strategic collaboration with CPKC to co-locate Americold warehouse facilities on the Class I’s network.
The new facility will support CPKC’s Mexico Midwest Express (MMX) service, North America’s only single-line rail service offering for refrigerated shippers between U.S. Midwest markets and Mexico. It will also enable more seamless and efficient service for MMX customers, according to Americold.
Key features include on-site USDA inspections to eliminate border delays; load capacity exceeding 50,000 pounds per container to reduce highway congestion; and a 300-mile service radius supporting regional food flow. Beyond the immediate region, the facility also serves as a strategic consolidation point for longer-haul shipments, including flows from Canada to Mexico, particularly for customers facing border inefficiencies or trucking capacity challenges, the company noted.
“This grand opening marks the realization of a shared vision and what is today a growing strategic collaboration delivering new rail service products to the market,” said CPKC President and CEO Keith Creel. “This facility is the first of many across our unrivaled North American network. By combining Americold with our secure, single-line cross-border service, we have created a new refrigerated supply chain for our customers shipping food and other temperature-controlled products across Canada, the United States and Mexico.”
State and local leaders joined company executives on April 30 to celebrate the company’s new investment in Missouri.
“We are thrilled to break ground on a new cold storage facility in Kansas City,” said Americold CEO George Chappelle. “This facility is the first to be built as part of our strategic collaboration with CPKC. By combining our cold storage capabilities with CPKC’s extensive rail network, Americold is poised to deliver a differentiated offering to support more customers across North America.”
“Today’s groundbreaking for this new facility marks the beginning of a significant collaboration that shows what we can achieve with vision and working together for our customers,” said CPKC President and CEO Keith Creel. “This project is the first of many across our network and, when combined with our unparalleled cross-border service, will build a new refrigerated supply chain for our customers. Just over one year ago here in Kansas City, when we celebrated the creation of CPKC, we talked about the unique economic benefits our unrivaled network would bring to Kansas City, Missouri and beyond. We are seeing that happen today.”
Missouri Partnership worked with several partners to attract Americold to Kansas City, including the City of Kansas City, Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri, KC SmartPort, Missouri Department of Economic Development, Missouri One Start, Evergy and Spire.
“It is always exciting when a company breaks ground in Missouri, and we are thrilled to officially welcome Americold to Kansas City,” said Missouri Partnership CEO Subash Alias. “Americold is joining more than 20,000 distribution and logistics companies in the state who are benefitting from Missouri’s central location, solid infrastructure, and low business costs. We look forward to watching Americold’s facility take shape and seeing their success unfold here in Missouri.”
“Bringing CPKC’s unrivaled network together with Americold’s cold storage capabilities creates a new refrigerated supply chain that shows what we can achieve together for our customers,” the Class I stated in a LinkedIn post.
