ID Logistics and Lactalis Open New Cold Chain Center in Hesse

Mit dem neuen Kühllager investieren wir gezielt in die Zukunft unseres Geschäfts und unterstreichen unser klares Bekenntnis zum Standort Deutschland, said Tiago Lopes, Supply Chain Director Lactalis Deutschland, as reported by logistik-heute.de. ID Logistics and Lactalis opened a new cold storage and logistics center in Steinau an der Straße, Hesse, on October 13, 2026. The 33,000-square-meter facility aims to bundle supply streams and shorten transport routes for the dairy processor.

Pallet capacity and temperature zones in Steinau

The newly opened facility features roughly 22,000 pallet storage positions dedicated to Lactalis milk and cheese items. The property consists of three halls spanning 33,000 square meters in total. Two halls covering 22,000 square meters provide chilled storage maintained constantly between two and five degrees Celsius for fresh products. An ammonia-based refrigeration system powers these temperature-controlled zones. A third hall remains available on the commercial market.

ID Logistics expects the facility to handle up to 2,000 pallets in both inbound and outbound logistics daily. Twenty-two flexible loading ramps support these movements. A digital slot and yard management system controls truck traffic on site to cut down driver wait times. Incoming orders flow once daily directly from the Lactalis IT system into the ID Logistics warehouse management system. Operations run on a two-shift model to prepare goods for delivery to the German wholesale and retail sectors on the following day.

Brand rollouts and European plant integration

Dutch semi-hard cheese brand Leerdammer became the first label to stock the new distribution center during the second week of October 2026. Additional Lactalis Group brands will move into the facility in stages over the coming months. These incoming labels include Salakis, Galbani, and Kraft in the cheese segment, alongside Haydi, MinusL, and Frankenland in the fresh dairy category.

Full operations are scheduled for the second quarter of 2027. Following a progressive ramp-up phase starting in May 2027, the logistics center will receive goods from approximately 40 Lactalis plants across Europe. The active product range will then exceed 900 items serving up to 1,200 destinations.

Energy efficiency and sustainability measures

Scannell Properties designed the building with a CO2-reduced construction method. A heat pump operates alongside a heating system fed by waste heat from the ammonia refrigeration plant. A two-megawatt-peak photovoltaic installation on the roof supplies electricity to the warehouse, while electric vehicle charging stations sit on the grounds. Es war besonders anspruchsvoll, eine energieeffiziente und ökologische Lösung für die durchgehenden Kühllagerflächen in dieser Dimension zu schaffen, stated Jan Imfeld, Country Head Germany at Scannell Properties, as reported by logistik-heute.de.

Lopes noted that the facility supports the Lactalis Group goal of achieving worldwide net-zero carbon emissions across the entire value chain by 2050. The centralized logistics network and the energy-saving building technology contribute to lowering the company’s carbon footprint.

Future growth provisions at the Hesse site

ID Logistics planned the facility layout with built-in provisions for demand-driven expansion. Dafür haben wir innerhalb der beiden Lactalis-Hallen zusätzliche Flächen für künftiges Wachstum eingeplant, said Robin Otto, CEO of ID Logistics Deutschland, as reported by logistik-heute.de. The company integrated extra floor space inside the two Lactalis-allocated halls to accommodate future volume growth.

The third hall, measuring 11,000 square meters, provides space for floor flexibility and external market synergies.