Del Monte France recently announced they have chosen the Port of Dunkirk in France to import its cargos of bananas from Cameroon, using CMA CGM’s PC Hebdo line, which serves Europe from the West Coast of Africa. The containerization of these banana imports, which has replaced conventional transport, influenced Del Monte’s choice in favor of Dunkirk according to this piece on CarbonPositive.com.
Del Monte has signed an agreement with CMA CGM, who recently announced the reorganization of its PC Hebdo service (seven ships with 3,500 TEU capacity), positioning the Port of Dunkirk as the foremost European port for goods imported from the West Coast of Africa, and the obvious logistical choice for forwarding to Rungis.
Del Monte’s decision to transfer its traffic from Cameroon via Dunkirk coincides with their earlier announcement of the opening of its first ripening shed at Rungis international market. Del Monte will be able to distribute its bananas in the yellow stage thanks to a new distribution center of 3,000 square-meters, with the total capacity of the ripening shed will be 27,000 tons of bananas a year.
"This decision by the Del Monte group comes as a timely justification of our discourse on the strategic relevance of the port of Dunkirk in France’s fresh produce sector," said Christine Cabau Woehrel, Executive Committee Chair at Grand Port Maritime de Dunkerque. "Dunkirk deserves its sound reputation in the handling and distribution of bananas and other produce carried at controlled temperature to the French market. To be chosen by a group as large and influential in its sector as Del Monte is a mark of recognition for our expertise and consistent service as a first-class gateway, and heralds other developments in the global food industry sector."
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