Axionlog: Streamlining the Supply Chain

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Axionlog, the largest food logistics operator in the Americas, is on the move in the U.S.

When foodservice logistics experts Axionlog opened their first facility in the U.S. last July, they were on course to triple the size of their 38,000-plus sq. ft. space by 2026. Now, just a month past their first anniversary there, they’re coming up with a new plan to accommodate vigorous customer demand. It’s a good thing their 8-acre compound in Jacksonville, Fla., is designed for expansion, because the cold chain specialist’s brand-new freezers are already packed full.

The enterprise is known for its high-quality service and competitive costs, serving some of the biggest restaurant companies in the world. McDonald’s, Little Caesars Pizza, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Subway, and a host of other global brands partner with Axionlog to serve their outlets throughout the Americas, embracing a one-stop shopping model that significantly streamlines their supply chains.

Axionlog USA is a full-service 3PL, offering cold, chilled, and dry storage, picking and selection, last mile distribution, consolidation, cross-dock and drayage, as well as inland transportation, ocean freight for import/export, and product labeling and sales. Their one-stop concept employs a single product catalog, a single order system, and consolidated deliveries to minimize weekly shipments.

At present, the company has operations in 12 countries and territories, including Mexico, Aruba, Curacao, French West Indies, USVI, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, and Chile. Their Mexico operations are the first in the nation to be certified by IFS, the developer of globally recognized foodservice quality and safety standards.

A career supply chain management exec, Alvaro Carretero, joined the firm in 2014 as COO and is the currently Chief Supply Chain Officer; he is also the key account manager for McDonald’s. As part of his mission to unite the growing Axionlog network, he set about standardizing and implementing best-in-class processes across what was a five-country organization. “If you find the best procedure, it's very easy to copy paste and to standardize in another operations and it's something that works,” he said.

Today, common systems and best practices are in place across the 12 countries and territories in which they operate. When developing new projects and tools to move forward in the business, Axionlog also collaborates closely with customers to develop common agendas with common road maps, custom-tailored to their precise needs.

In 2019, Carretero relocated to the U.S. to oversee the development of the Jacksonville project. Because Axionlog serves some of the biggest restaurant brands in the world, a huge number of U.S.-based vendors were serving their customers across its network in the Americas. “We saw that there was a big opportunity to consolidate these products in half and ship containers from the same site to different countries with all the products that we need,” he explained. “That was the first idea behind this project, and the reason we chose to build our facility in Jacksonville.”

Then came 2020. Unsurprisingly, Axionlog was well prepared and was able to move forward with their strategy. They explored other offerings that would meet their customers’ rapidly changing needs and flesh out their integrated end-to-end global solution, such as improving temperature controls. “We are implementing temperature control in real time across all of our facilities,” he revealed. “We are the first company offering this technology to our customers in our industry.”

Typical temperature control systems monitor the temps in the warehouse and in shipping containers, however, Axionlog’s technology tracks the temperature of the actual product in real time. The effort maintains the quality of the product during transportation, increasing food safety and helping vendors and stores to cut their losses from product spoilage. “They can see the performance of the product at every single moment they are on the road,” he said. “Real-time information gives you time to get information about what’s happening with the product and gives you the opportunity to fix it and prevent damages.”

Their 8-acre hub contains a 38,000-sq. ft. warehouse facility, expandable to 140,000 sq. ft. “We are just 3 miles away from Blount Island Marine Terminal,” he said. “We chose the location to maximize the supply chain for import and export operations.” Their needs are served through the Port of Jacksonville, which has direct access to three major interstate highways and daily rail service from Norfolk Southern, CSX, and Florida East Coast Railway.

The facility features a freezer that holds 1,300 pallet positions that is expandable to 8,000, a 270-pallet cooler, and dry storage that accommodates 1,900 pallets and is expandable to 5,000. “There is a huge cold-dock for cross-dock operations and consolidation activities for temperature-controlled products,” he noted.

Sustainability is a big concern for the company, which invests in new technologies and new alternatives to reduce their impact on the environment. “Following our strategy to reduce our CO2 footprint, we use lithium batteries in our forklifts, a CO2 refrigeration system, and solar panels in some of our facilities,” he noted. In addition, they improved their freezer insulation, and offer to their customers used cooking oil collection services. “We are very excited to announce that we are working on a very advanced project that could give us the opportunity to offer our transport services with electric trucks in 2024.”

Developing and nurturing long-term relationships is part of the Axionlog philosophy. “We are very satisfied with all the partners that we have found in this project, and we are very thankful to them because of their support.” The list includes the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, which supported the company with all matters related to the city; JAXPort, the port authority that integrated Axionlog like one of their own assets; and ATEC, their partner in freight forwarding.

“We developed a common partnership with Seafood Sales and Service, our most important customer. I’d also like to thank Viking Cold Solutions, founded and led by my friend Paul Robbins, and FlexCold for always working with us to find synergies for both our companies.”

As Axionlog speeds across their growth track, customer interest in their Jacksonville operations is high. In response, they are planning to launch another hub and distribution center on the West Coast to take advantage of the vast number of opportunities to serve customers in that strategic part of the market.