b'14American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comPort of Wilmington, NC closer to becoming major cold chain linkNorth Carolinas Port of Wilmingtons focus on growing their perishables business is a chilling success.By Andrew Meadows, AJOTThePortofWilmingtonofWilmingtonfrom230to NorthCarolinacontinuesto1,500. The plan is to increase expand its role as a domesticthatfigureto2,100reefer cold chain player by focusingplugs as demand warrants. on growing perishable exportsThemessageissimple: while strategically increasingwithNorthCarolinaspopu-refrigerated imports. lationandbusinesscommu-Almosttenyearsago,nity expanding rapidly, more Wilmingtons refrigerated importconsumers require year-round toexportratiowasonetoaccesstofruits,vegetables, nine. Through a combinationandproteins.Officialssay of infrastructure upgrades andWilmington is well positioned private and public investment,to help meet the demand while that figure now sits at one to(LINKcontinued on four, with a 235% increase inpage 16)reefer cargo since 2016. Port leaders see potential to drive theratiodownevenfurther and expand its business in the premium reefer cargo market. We are fortunate because NorthCarolinahasalotof cold exports, so the round trip is possible here for the carri-ers,saidHansBean,chief commercialofficerforthe NorthCarolinaStatePorts Authoritywhichoversees Wilmingtonaswellasthe PortofMoreheadCityand an inland port in Charlotte. In addition to a huge agriculture industryworthupwardsof $100 billion, North Carolina has over 3,000 grocery retail-ers, and about a half dozen of them are headquartered here. But fresh produce was never getting to those stores or their distributionnetworksviaa neargatewaylikeWilming-tonitwasalwaysoverthe road from Philadelphia, Dela-wareorSouthFloridawith veryinflatedcosts.Wesaw thatasanimmediatefocus to both serve and liberate our exports, but also to get a more optimal solution for fresh pro-duce coming into the region. Its also a very attractive seg-mentfortheoceancarriers sowewantedtoshowcase our capabilities and invest so that the carriers could make a bigger cold station here.1.5 m illion sq / ft ofC olDs toraGeThePortof Wilmington andthesurroundingnear-Port area now boasts almost 1.5millionsquarefeetof refrigeratedwarehousing, includingnotablefacilities developedbyColdSummit Development and RL Coldthe later operated by Perfor-manceTeamrepresenting acombined$250million in investment.Overthepast eightyears,NorthCarolina Ports has complemented this industryinvestmentwithin theregionbyincreasingits reefer plug count at the Port'