A company new to Lebanon has revolutionized food storage and delivery while its competitors struggle with the national supply chain.

NewCold Advanced Cold Storage Logistics cut the ceremonial ribbon to its new $300,000 million facility here Wednesday in the presence of state and local dignitaries.

NewCold doesn’t manufacture a thing. It stores frozen foods for food producers and ships them to buyers, such as Walmart, nationwide.

NewCold handles more than a third of ConAgra Brands’ products that include household staples such as Duncan Hines, Boom Chicka Pop, Banquet, Vlasic, Swiss Miss, and more that are estimated to be used by 98% of American households.

And NewCold’s strategic use of technology has allowed ConAgra to save money by using them, ConAgra Vice President Craig Weiss said Wednesday.

NewCold houses as many as 100,000 pallets of food at a time in its 14-story warehouse. Humans operate forklifts to move food into and out of the facility. Pallet sized railcars move food from the forklifts to cranes. And the cranes store and retrieve food from the 14-story vertical storage space.

NewCold’s state-of-the-art warehouse is highly automated and uses proprietary technology and software. The company pays about $10 more per hour than the average Boone County job and employs about 175 people. But the company must train all of its employees on its technology and software, because none like it exists elsewhere, Jonas Swarttouw, executive vice president and chairman of NewCold North America, said.

Those who have a problem-solving mindset and who want to be part of the solution will do well at NewCold, officials said. And NewCold offers training and advancement as employees learn the software and equipment. In fact, the man who operates the Lebanon plant began work with NewCold as a forklift operator at another plant.

NewCold, based in the Netherlands, is a global player in advanced food logistics with 15 state-of-the-art automated and energy efficient warehouses on three continents, according to information released by the company.

Wednesday’s ribbon cutting signified the opening of NewCold’s first facility in Lebanon. Work has already begun on its phase two. That will double the size of the present warehouse and make NewCold the largest facility of its kind in the United States, Swarttouw said. And phase two won’t be the last, he said.

“The day after we decided to develop this facility, the United States was shut down due to COVID,” Swarttouw said. “That we are here today is a testament to the significant contribution and collaboration of many partners and stakeholders in the Indiana state government, Boone County, and the City of Lebanon.”

Swarttouw said Lebanon Mayor Matthew Gentry and his administration clinched the deal with NewCold by removing much of the risk businesses face when moving to a new community.

“Lebanon is thrilled to be celebrating the grand opening …,” Gentry said. “With their highly automated storage systems, NewCold is on the cutting edge of our food supply chain and Lebanon is proud to be their home. NewCold’s investment further solidifies Lebanon as an important food manufacturing and supply hub in the United States.”

“Boone County doesn’t have a food production problem,” Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Don Lamb told a crowd of business and community partners gathered in a tent for the celebration.

But the state and nation do face challenges in food distribution. And NewCold is among the companies that will help ensure national food security, he said. Lamb is also a Boone County farmer.

“We believe this facility sets a new benchmark for our industry” Bram Hage, NewCold founder and CEO, said. “NewCold is at the forefront of innovation in the market. We are building a more resilient, reliable, and sustainable food supply chain to better serve our customers.”

Hage intended to become a professional soccer player in the Netherlands, but an injury took him out of play. He ended up in this business nearly by accident when he became a forklift operator for a company in the Netherlands. Logistics grabbed his imagination and he wanted to find ways to do it better, Hage said.

He worked his way through the ranks and later formed NewCold, creating his own machines and software to run it.