Australia’s Cold Store Operator Seeks Partner for Asian Expansion

Australia’s largest privately-ˇowned cold storage operator, Oxford Cold Storage is seeking an operational and financial partner to expand its world-ˇclass cold storage services across Asia.

In a global first, Oxford is piloting a system of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in a third party temperature controlled environment to ensure accuracy, improve safety standards and allow for 24-ˇhour operation, delivering significant competitive advantage in the industry leader’s push for international expansion.

Founded by the Fleiszig and Stern families over four decades ago, Oxford is a third-ˇgeneration business, now operated by brothers, Paul and Mark Fleiszig, alongside their cousin, Rodney Fleiszig. At the helm are brothers Stephen, Gabor and Luis Fleiszig. “Oxford is extremely well positioned to take advantage of the thriving Asian middle-ˇclass’ skyrocketing demands for produce. As this demographic develops, there is less time for people to wait for fresh food in a traditional market sense, so cold storage is becoming a vital component of the food chain,” said Oxford Director, Paul Fleiszig.

“We are at the forefront of logistics technology, designing our own systems with growth in mind to ensure scalability for the next phase, supported by our expertise in data mining and high-ˇdensity operation.” Delivering an annual turnover of $80 million within a robust growth industry (5% p.a. in Australia), Oxford was the first company to introduce a real-ˇtime radio frequency track and trace warehouse management system in 1995.

“A key priority for us is staying ahead of the logistics technology curve through continuous improvement across warehouse operations. Our R&D team is responsible for ensuring we exceed national and international regulations, meeting the increased need for “paddock to plate” tracing while delivering the best possible service for our customers,” Paul explained.

As the operator of the largest third-ˇparty temperature controlled warehouse in the country and 20th largest operator globally, Oxford offers racked storage for over 175,000 pallets, with the capacity to freeze 12,000 cartons and carcasses daily. Mike Robbins, Oceania Head of Physical Logistics at Nestlé Australia Ltd said: “Oxford Cold Storage is the most innovative operator in the Australian temperature controlled supply chain. The business invests heavily in technology, offering benefits within and beyond the warehouse.”

“Oxford is extremely agile and are able to react quickly to changing customer requirements. Through the application of flexible IT solutions applied to operations optimisation Oxford have been able to deliver end to end supply chain efficiencies in warehousing, transport and inventory management.”