Mercadona has begun work on the expansion of its logistics network in San Isidro with the construction of a new 53,000 square metre distribution warehouse. The project that will increase the capacity of the current facilities – which presently serves 171 supermarkets in Alicante, Albacete and Murcia, as well as automating the processing of fresh products, according to a press release issued by the company last week.
The new unit will be located between las calles España and Portugal in the Polígono Industrial La Granadina, in front of the current refrigerated warehouse that forms part of the company’s current logistics block.
Mercadona, chaired by Juan Roig, has contracted 17 local companies to carry out the work, that represent “the catalyst in the economic reactivation of the area.” The project will involve an investment of 32 million euros.
The construction of the new warehouse will be addressed in two phases. The first is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2019, when the seafood warehouse is planned to be completed, and a second phase which is scheduled for completion and subsequent commissioning in 2021, in which perishable and refrigerated products will be located.
Mercadona emphasises that the warehouse will have an automated PPG (Picking Bridge Crane) system, an innovative system for the storage and preparation of meat, fruit and vegetable pallets. The system removes the need for handling by workers throughout the whole process, from the receipt of goods to the completion of pallets that will be issued to stores. It also guarantees the correct handling of the products, and therefore the quality prior to their distribution.
“This efficiency in the processes is key to meeting the company’s goal of guaranteeing maximum quality and freshness of our products to customers,” according to a spokesman from the supermarket chain.
This new warehouse will be a major improvement to the logistics block that has been operating in the industrial park La Granadina in San Isidro since 2002. The logistics block has a staff of 640 people and currently supplies 171 supermarkets in the provinces of Alicante, Albacete and Murcia, so the improvements will also increase capacity in parallel to the constant growth of the company.
In addition to this logistics depot, Mercadona has 100 supermarkets in the 42 municipalities in the province that provides employment to more than 4,960 workers , according to data issued by the firm.
The chain also remarks that it has strengthened its social responsibility in the province over the past year through a number of different initiatives, with more than 11,900 kilos of food donated to the Food Bank Foundation of Alicante.
It has also collaborated in multiple “Operations Kilo” with Red Cross, Cáritas and other charities, and in initiatives such as the Food Bank through its ” El Gran Recapte” campaign.
