Dairy Processing -March/April 2022 - 44

SUPPLY CHAIN
In August 2020, Hudsonville Ice Cream, Holland, Mich.,
broke ground on a $35 million project that added a new cold
storage hub to its headquarters.
The family-owned creamery, in business since 1926,
added a 156,466-square-foot, -20-degree freezer space to its
campus.
The facility was built by Ti Cold, formerly Tippmann
Construction, and features a refrigerated dock and nine
dock doors as the ice cream maker works to accommodate
the logistics that come with expanding its products into new
stores and states with each passing year.
This is the latest in the evolution of the facility, which
also saw upgrades in 2018 when the company added a new
The global robotics market is
expected to grow at a compound
annual growth rate of 10%,
reaching almost $70.6 billion by
2028. (Statista, 2021)
Dairy organizations weigh-in
on supply chain issues
The US Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and
National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF)
took part in a roundtable with the US House of
Representatives' bipartisan Problem Solvers
Caucus. The discussion focused on steps Congress
could take to resolve supply chain problems that
are impacting exporters.
Jaime Castaneda, executive vice president for
policy development and strategy for USDEC and
NMPF, spoke during the session about issues such
as securing container and vessel space, supply
chain congestion and high fees for shipping
products to international customers.
" A conservative estimate of the supply chain
challenges for dairy exporters in 2021 is over $1.5
billion in higher direct costs, reduced value and
lost sales, " Castaneda said. " If this continues, we
risk losing ground to our competitors in highly
competitive foreign markets, which has ripple
effects on the paychecks of American dairy
farmers and the thousands of workers who
support the export supply chain. "
Krysta Harden, president and chief executive
officer of USDEC, said 2021 proved to be " a
very difficult and unsustainable environment for
US dairy exporters, " noting that the challenges
encountered through supply chain backups risked
the reputations of agricultural exporters.
" I have heard directly from customers their
intent to switch suppliers to our competitors solely
because of these congestion issues, " Harden said.
Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF, said the
federation's members were proud to be a part of
the bipartisan roundtable, with hopes of " identifying
additional areas where Congress can act to help
alleviate the supply chain snarls that have been
limiting US dairy producers' ability to export. "
Both Harden and Mulhern thanked Reps. Jim
Costa (D-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD), for
moderating the discussion, as the dairy industry
seeks answers to ongoing supply chain problems.
The American Trucking Association, National
Retail Federation, Agricultural Transportation
Coalition and National Association of
Manufacturers also participated in the roundtable.
The USDEC is a non-profit, independent
membership organization that represents the
global trade interests of US dairy producers,
proprietary processors and cooperatives,
ingredient suppliers and export traders.
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Dairy Processing -March/April 2022

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