Cold Chain Education Program coming to Amsterdam Feb. 25-26.

Trends and developments in the European food retail market, and in particular the frozen foods segment, will be among subjects on the agenda during the 11th European Cold Chain Education Program & Trade Show, scheduled for Feb. 2526 in Amsterdam, Holland.

Simon Smith, vice president of Logistics Europe for Unilever, Switzerland, will talk about the company's current logistics structure in Europe, requirements for third-party logistics service suppliers, and in which areas and product groups growth can be expected in the coming years.

The program will bring together European and international warehouse operators and other representatives from the refrigerated warehousing and distribution industry for presentations and sessions on industry trends, development, policies and regulations. The theme is: "Back to Basics: Safe, Efficient and Profitable Cold Storage and Distribution."

For manufacturers, retailers and logistics service providers in the food sector it is important to monitor the efficiency of distribution. They can in, prove this part of their supply chain through benchmarking with their competition, as well as with the wider marketplace.

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Roger Watkins of the Scala Group (UK) will present results from the 2007-09 Food & Drink Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) survey conducted by the British Department for Transport.

The logistics industry has seen a large number of mergers and acquisitions in the last few years, and this trend has not skipped the refrigerated warehousing industry.

Some of the most significant acquisitions have been by Iceland's Eimskip, which recently bought out Innovate (30 UK facilities), Daalimpex (six facilities in HoP land), Versacold (72 facilities in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Argentina) and Atlas (52 facilities in North America).

This has made the company a leading provider of transportation, reefer logistics, and cold storage services, with more than 200 coldstores under its domain. The Amsterdam audience will hear about the company's policy of creating a worldwide network of temperature-controlled transportation and warehousing services, which has already resulted in a presence on every continent except Africa.

Besides the conference programs, trade show, sightseeing and networking dinners, attendees will have a chance to visit a working facility. This time, it's the Daalimpex cold-store in Velsen, Holland.

Another hot topic in logistics is road congestion, which has huge economic implications and is costing logistics companies a lot of money. Acknowledging the problems, the EU has unveiled plans for a common transport policy, including some 30 measures in relation to logistics.

So what action should be taken to improve the situation in the near future? One way of dealing with the problem is by creating logistics hubs in new locations, which also offers opportunities for the cold storage industry. Perhaps the integration of warehousing, transportation and distribution into "one-stop-shopping service" is a solution.

Could more transport by rail and water solve part of the problem? And how is transportation and distribution impacted by the discussion about food miles--the term used for the distance food travels between the point of production and end-user? Joe Grealy of Transfrigoroute International, and Koen Overtoom of the Port of Amsterdam, will try to answer these questions with facts, figures and practical case studies.

The program is organized by the Global Cold Chain Alliance, the umbrella organization for the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses and the World Food Logistics Organization, with support from a number of affiliated groups.