Thai Union officially opened its new 8,000 metric tonne cold storage facility for the Pioneer Food Cannery (PFC) plant. Located in Tema, near the PFC manufacturing plant, the cold storage facility will ensure year-round temperature-controlled storage of Atlantic tuna for the plant, further strengthening the resilience of its supply chain and Thai Union’s manufacturing footprint.
Thiraphong Chansiri, president and CEO of Thai Union Group, stressed that they will continue to invest in their facilities in Ghana.
Johnny Ladouce, director of the PFC plant, emphasized that the plant, with its 1,100 employees, manufactures products for market-leading brands throughout Europe.
The cold store, with its four storage rooms and a sorting and sizing facility, is now fully operational. The $14 million investment will enable Thai Union and PFC to load its plant with the volumes needed to produce year-round through vertical integration and optimization of its supply chain, thereby improving plant throughput and yield.
Johnny Ladouce, PFC Plant Manager, said: “Thanks to our new cold store, we will reduce traffic and CO2 emissions while ensuring that we can produce year-round and independent of fluctuating fish supplies. We are committed to Ghana and the communities in which we operate, providing both direct and indirect jobs here in Tema.”
Chansiri added that the PFC plant “plays a vital role for our brands in Europe and the US. “plays a vital role for our brands in Europe and the U.S. This investment will further enhance our security of supply and competitiveness in serving our customers.”. Upcoming investments at PFC will be directed towards the SeaChange® 2030 sustainability plan, such as reducing emissions by installing solar panels and implementing measures to minimize waste to landfill, water discharges and food losses.
The cold storage facility replaces PFC’s previous solution of using rented cold storage space scattered throughout the city. This new system allows the company to save on rental costs, reduce the number of truck trips needed to transport raw product between facilities, and maintain full control over product quality, as everything is processed in-house from storage to shipping, improving PFC’s competitiveness.
