[#217] Supply Chain in Numbers - Feb 5, 2024
TrusTrace raises $24M, J&J Snack Foods opens 20k pallet cold storage, Ryder acquires Cardinal Logistics, VC funding to logistics startup reduced to $780M in Q4, APM Terminal to invest $500M
Welcome to “Supply Chain in Numbers.” This newsletter tracks significant digits from the world of the supply chain. Five prominent numbers are published every Monday. If you have any feedback, please send it to me.
$24 million funding for traceability platform
TrusTrace, a supply chain traceability platform for the fashion industry, has raised a $24 million Series B. The Stockholm, Sweden-based company’s seed round was in 2019. TrusTrace provides real-time data on social and environmental issues — from raw materials to finished goods — of a company’s supply chain. It helps retailers map out where their Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 factories and beyond are, especially because most of their supply chains are outsourced. It can also integrate with retailers’ manufacturing and supplier systems and partner with third parties like certification agencies to obtain their data. TrusTrace will try to flag suppliers that may have given forged or falsified data and alert the brands or partners. Suppliers are not charged to use the platform. [Axios]
212,000 sqft cold storage to hold 20,000 pallets
J&J Snack Foods opened its second self-owned cold storage facility in Woolwich, New Jersey, as the company looks to optimize distribution across the U.S. northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. The 212,000-square-foot facility can accommodate over 20,000 pallets of frozen food storage, including a portion for 700 pallets of Dippin’ Dots. A third facility in Arizona is “on track” to open in early 2024 as J&J Snack Foods aims to lower distribution costs. As of summer 2023, most of J&J Snack Foods stock was shipped to 3PL partners. [SC Dive]
2,900 vehicles and 3,400 drivers
Ryder System has acquired Cardinal Logistics, the transportation and supply chain provider. The addition of the North Carolina-based business will add 200 operating locations, 2,900 power vehicles, and 3,400 professional drivers, and Ryder will integrate the two companies. Ryder’s dedicated segment generated 15% of the business’s $12 billion overall revenue in 2022. Ryder noted the deal increases the scale and network density, and the company has worked to expand its e-commerce, omnichannel fulfillment, and supply chain capabilities over the years with acquisitions, including Dotcom Distribution and Whiplash in 2022, as well as IFS Holdings, known as Impact Fulfillment Services, in 2023. [Trucking Dive]
$780 million from $5.2 billion in Q4
Logistics technology startups are cutting workers again in a bid to survive. Freight forwarder Flexport, digital broker Uber Freight, and warehousing provider Flexe are starting 2024, laying off employees. The startups are being squeezed by weak freight volumes, high-interest rates, and a pullback in venture funding. Venture capital investments in supply-chain technology startups fell to $780 million in the fourth quarter of last year, down from $5.2 billion in the same quarter two years earlier. The pressure to cut costs isn’t only coming from CEOs and investors. Per Matt Elenjickal (founder of FourKites), customers are asking to see balance sheets to ensure the companies they do business with are “financially stable.” [WSJ]
$500 million for a new container terminal
APM Terminals, the terminal arm of Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk, will invest an initial $500 million to construct a state-of-the-art container terminal near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The terminal will be constructed on a greenfield site on the west bank of the lower Mississippi River. APM Terminals’ decision follows Ports America and Mediterranean Shipping Company’s recent commitment of $800 million towards a $1.8 billion state-of-the-art container facility in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. The new Louisiana International Terminal will serve vessels of all sizes and handle 2 million TEUs annually at full build-out, leveraging the deeper 50-foot Lower Mississippi River Ship Channel and avoiding height restrictions from upriver bridges. [GCaptain]