United States Cold Storage

Unilever is one of the world’s largest producers of packaged consumer goods. To meet the growing demands of consumers in the Southeast, Unilever expanded its ice cream manufacturing and distribution facility in Covington, Tennessee. United States Cold Storage, the operator of the distribution expansion, selected Primus to provide design-build services on the 336,500 SF dedicated frozen food distribution facility located adjacent to the existing 815,000 SF production facility. Combined, the complex is one of the largest ice cream manufacturing plants in the world.

The new distribution facility is “plant attached,” meaning it is connected to the existing production facility by a -20°F elevated corridor. Product makes its way from the production facility to a 35°F – 40°F pallet delivery space and then down the elevated corridor to the -20° freezer warehouse. The receiving area in the warehouse is equipped with computer controlled stacker cranes that distribute product to its assigned space in the warehouse.

The new building features 34 dock doors with vertical dock position, one with regular dock position and two with compactor dock positions.