On Wednesday, June 30, the first pile of R&M Forwarding’s new building was driven. It will be built at the Nieuw-Reijerwaard business park, in the Netherlands. There, 23 of the available 96 hectares have already been claimed. With no less than 1,150 piles to go, Rien van Beek and Mark van der Slik symbolically sank the first. They celebrated with champagne.
Henk van Os, GRNR (Nieuw-Reijerwaard Municipalities Body), vice-chairman, Gert-Jan Metselaar, a Nieuw-Reijerwaard director, and Tanja de Jonge, it’s chairperson were present at this festive occasion. They’re responsible for developing the business park.
R&M ran into limitations at their previous location. So, the logistics service provider found a more suitable spot. It’s in Dutch Fresh Port, the largest specialized agri-/fresh/food cluster in the Netherlands. The new state-of-the-art building will have two floors and be 300m long. It’ll have a total floor area of 21,000m2. It’ll also have a 10,000 pallet refrigeration capacity.
There they go, in their white lab coats, to the piling machine. F.l.t.r.: Necron’s Erwin Lam, René Velthoen and Rien van Beek from R&M Forwarding, Nectron’s Bjorn Carlier, Mark van der Slik from R&M Forwarding, and Necron’s Gerard van Liempt.
An environmentally friendly ammonia-based system will cool the building. R&M can do rapid and deep cooling too. They’re also offering at least eight office spaces. These are for importers or exporters who want to establish themselves there.
Rien and Mark toast the first pile.
“We’re at the fruit trade’s – from importers to offloaders – service,” says Rien. “Soon, we’ll have everything in-house. We not only have packaging and repackaging and customs facilities. But distribution, ripening, netting, and logistics too. The total packaging up to the end destination.”
Niek Kroeze, the project manager at the Aan de Stegge construction company, and Jeroen Kappert, the Aan de Stegge project leader. They’ll ensure the entire build goes well.
Two Dutch packaging companies, Looije Packing and IQ Packing will both occupy 3,000m2 of the building. That’s to ensure clients get the best service in the repackaging facility. “We have all the necessary certifications like AEO and IFS. So, we can completely unburden clients. They can then concentrate on their own business”, says Rien.
GRNE’s Tanja de Jonge gifted Mark van der Slik with a lovely aerial photo.
Dutch construction company Aan de Stegge will carry out the project. The first phase should be completed in early 2020. It should be operational by May of that year.
An artist’s impression of the new building.
For more information:
Rien van Beek
R&M Forwarding
120 Handelsweg
2988 DC, Ridderkerk, NL
Tel: + 31 (0) 102 444 047
Email: rien@rmforwarding.com
Website: www.rmforwarding.com