NewCold Site Focus: Tacoma

When NewCold opened its Tacoma facility in January 2018, it marked more than the launch of a single site, it signaled NewCold’s official arrival in North America. As the company’s first cold storage facility on the continent, NewCold Tacoma laid the foundation for what has since become a rapidly expanding North American network across the United States and Canada. Today, Tacoma remains a cornerstone of that network, combining strategic location, automation-driven innovation, and deep community impact.

A strategically positioned gateway
NewCold Tacoma’s location is a defining advantage. Situated just south of Seattle, long known as “The Gateway to Alaska”, the site has evolved into a key seafood logistics hub for the other 48 states. Its proximity to major ports allows seafood products from Alaska and global producers to move seamlessly through the supply chain.

At the same time, Tacoma’s role extends well beyond seafood. Located minutes from the Port of Tacoma and the Port of Seattle, which together form the Northwest Seaport Alliance, the facility serves as a vital import and export hub for a wide range of frozen goods moving throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond. This access to multimodal transportation makes Tacoma an essential node in NewCold’s North American logistics strategy.

Introducing automation to North America
As NewCold’s earliest North American site, Tacoma played a pivotal role in introducing customers to the company’s highly automated cold storage model. For many commercial partners, Tacoma was their first experience with NewCold’s automated solutions and one that left a lasting impression.

Those early partnerships continue today, both at Tacoma and across the broader network. Customers initially served at the Tacoma site have gone on to expand their relationship with NewCold in other U.S. locations, including Indiana and Georgia, with an additional site planned in Maryland. Tacoma’s success helped build trust, demonstrating that automation could deliver consistency, accuracy, and high service levels at scale.

A living testbed for innovation
Innovation has been woven into the Tacoma site since day one. The facility has served as a testing ground for new technologies, supporting NewCold’s drive to continuously improve and future-proof its operations.

One notable milestone was Tacoma becoming the first NewCold site to implement Davanti’s Corax WMS, the company’s modern, custom-built warehouse management system. This early deployment helped shape how Corax supports automated operations across the wider NewCold network, reinforcing Tacoma’s role as a proving ground for new ideas and systems.

Sustainability in daily operations
As part of its expanding ISO 14001 environmental management program, the Tacoma site actively considers sustainability in every standard operating procedure (SOP), program, and process it develops.

The team closely tracks energy and water usage, making adjustments when performance data indicates opportunities for improvement. In collaboration with the City of Tacoma and local energy management companies, NewCold Tacoma is evaluating consumption patterns to identify and implement efficiency upgrades. Waste reduction is another priority, supported by participation in multiple recycling programs and ongoing efforts to improve material reuse and diversion. As the sustainability program matures, these initiatives are expected to steadily reduce the site’s environmental impact, aligning with NewCold’s ambitious goal of achieving a zero carbon footprint by 2040.

A positive force in the local economy
NewCold Tacoma represents a significant economic win for Pierce County and the City of Tacoma. The facility creates high-quality jobs, expands regional cold storage capacity, and stimulates activity for local service providers and logistics partners.

With a capacity of approximately 100,000 pallets, the site attracts food producers and traders from global markets. This “gravity effect” increases commercial traffic through both over-the-road transport and the nearby ports, reinforcing Tacoma’s position as a critical logistics hub in the Pacific Northwest.

A legacy site with a forward focus
Nearly a decade after opening, NewCold Tacoma remains both a symbol of where NewCold began in North America and a blueprint for where it is heading. Its combination of strategic location, automation leadership, sustainability focus, and community impact ensures that Tacoma continues to play a central role in NewCold’s growing North American story.