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2012 Leadership Meeting focused on training and teamwork

Posted In:Tradeshows/Events May 3rd, 2012

In March 2012, Millard hosted its Leadership Meeting in Omaha where all of the company’s general managers, sales, human resources and corporate leaders met to discuss the state of the business and our 2012 plans.

Our meeting kicked off with four days of refrigeration compliance training for our general managers.  “It was one of the best training events we have ever participated in – not only at Millard, but the industry,” said Todd Rogers, Regional Vice President.  With the compliance training completed, the balance of the meeting focused on customers, our team members and innovation.

The overall theme at this year’s meeting was “Team.” This theme came to life at the team dinner where guest speaker and former NFL All-Pro Brian Holloway spoke to the group about being a team and supporting each other with a common vision on making the play for the customer, each other, and the company.

Tech update: Sterilization – Better processes, healthier foods

Posted In:Millard in the News April 27th, 2012

When it comes to nonthermal sterilization of food and beverage products, a big, round number applies: zero.

Alternatives to heat and chemicals are available to sterilize food packaging materials. Indeed, the available options continue to grow. But retort and aseptic processes are the only approved methods for sterilizing human consumables, and both rely on heat.

A decade ago, excitement surrounded high-pressure processing (HPP) as a possibility for nonthermal sterilization, but scientific studies soon dispelled that notion. Squeezing the life out of microorganisms is a slam dunk, but there is only one known way to destroy spore formers that lie dormant during processing and spring to life later—notably Clostridium botulinum, the pathogen that thrives in a sealed container—and that is with heat.

Scientists at the National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST) discovered early on in their research on HPP that temperature increases in tandem with pressure. Depending on the product’s density and composition, a temperature increase of 21°-63°C/70°-145°F might occur at a pressure of 700 MegaPascals, or125,000psi. That is significantly higher pressure than what commercial food presses operate at, which means higher maintenance costs and machine failure rates since the army is keen to improve the quality and nutritional value of MREs.

To read the entire article, go to http://www.foodengineeringmag.com/articles/89245-tech-update–sterilization—better-processes–healthier-foods

Food Preservation–Low-Tech Past, High-Tech Present and Future

Posted In:Millard in the News April 27th, 2012

Food preservation–in other words, extending shelf life–has been a widely-practiced human endeavor since the days of cave people.(Forget that sexist term “cave men.”) According to the website PartSelect, cave folk who lived in cold locations froze fish, seal meat, and other small animals by storing them on ice. In warmer climates, drying was the ancient method of choice for food preservation. Later, to freezing, drying, and fermenting, the Romans added pickling and canning.

In modern times, science has provided additional ways to extend shelf life, especially techniques, currently widespread, that can keep foods fresh longer in the refrigerator. Now, scientists are working on ways to extend the shelf life of foods that are customarily refrigerated, making them safe and tasty at room temperature for longer periods of time. Read on to discover the “supersandwich” with a shelf life, at room temperature, of 3-5 years! But let’s start with the somewhat high-tech processes that most consumers come in contact with regularly, though they may not realize it.

To read the entire article, go to http://shelflifeadvice.com/content/food-preservation-low-tech-past-high-tech-present-and-future

Millard will offer complimentary shoe shines during the NRA, May 5-8

Posted In:Tradeshows/Events April 26th, 2012

With just a little over a week to go until the National Restaurant Association (NRA) is underway in Chicago, Millard is looking forward to the show and is confident that its complimentary shoe shine stand will attract attendees.

“Since the NRA is a large show with more than 50,000 attendees, we thought a shoe shine stand would be a unique and fun way to grab attendees’ attention to stop by our booth. Plus, it’s a great way to quickly learn about a company and its needs,” said Tim Smith, Senior Vice President of Sales.

Millard’s focus at the show is to talk to attendees about how its freight consolidation program can eliminate the need for LTL as well as how High Pressure Processing can help with food safety and extend shelf life.

Millard and Groom Energy Deploy One of the Nation’s Largest LED Lighting Upgrades

Posted In:Announcements, Press Releases December 7th, 2011

Allentown, Penn., Dec. 6, 2011 – Millard, a leading refrigerated warehousing and distribution services company, and Groom Energy today announced the completion of an LED warehouse lighting retrofit at Millard’s Allentown facility.  Covering more than 629,000 square feet and using almost 800 LED high bay fixtures, the project is one of the largest LED deployments in the U.S. 

The implementation will save significant amounts of energy by reducing 3.5 million kilowatt hours in lighting and cooling system operation and eliminating more than 1,700 tons of CO2 into the environment. 

“Millard is proud of the upgrade at our Allentown facility.  It is another example of Millard’s commitment to lowering our environmental impact while drastically reducing our electrical consumption using this cutting edge technology,” said Barry Fischetto, chief operating officer, Millard.  “We found Groom Energy to be a great partner for the system design and implementation.” 

Groom engineers configured the system to provide Millard operators the ability to provide lighting only when operators are present, reducing wasted energy for lighting large unoccupied areas.  The system also provides Millard’s operators energy consumption reporting, tracking the on-going system energy savings.  Groom ensured that Millard’s investment was supported with a financial incentive from PPL Electric utility, and was implemented over a five-month period, resulting in limited disruption to their business operation. 

“We are excited that Millard selected us to deploy this energy efficiency upgrade,” said Fritz Troller, executive vice president at Groom Energy.  “The system economic and environmental benefits are dramatic, and we look forward to working the Millard team on future energy efficiency projects at this and other facilities.” 

About Millard

Millard was founded in 1963, in Omaha, NE.  The company remains a family owned and operated company.  Millard currently serves all of North America through the operation of 36 regional facilities, and is the second-largest refrigerated warehouse and distribution company in the United States.  In addition to cold-storage warehousing and HPP, Millard provides clients with a wide variety of other value-added services, including transportation, logistics support and import/export assistance.  The company also operates Millard Maritime, a private port facility near Mobile, AL that includes a 240,000 sq. ft of refrigerated & frozen warehouse and features a 1,600 ft. wharf, export & import capabilities, breakbulk loading and rail, interstate and barge access.  To learn more about Millard’s full line of value added services, please visit www.millardref.com. 

About Groom Energy Solutions

Groom Energy is a leading provider of commercial and industrial energy solutions. The company delivers a range of services from corporate sustainability and whole building energy assessments to turnkey installations at enterprise facilities across the United States.  Groom’s projects help customers reduce costs while positively affecting the environment.  Food manufacturing, distribution and cold storage customers include: Conagra, HCBrill, Kelloggs, Maines, Ocean Spray, Stonyfield Farms and Weetabix.  For more information please visit www.groomenergy.com. 

MEDIA CONTACT FOR MILLARD

Tim Smith

Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing

Millard

402.880.0894

Tim.Smith@millardref.com

Millard Acquires and will Operate Bob Evans Foods Distribution Center in Springfield, Ohio

Posted In:Announcements, Press Releases October 21st, 2011

OMAHA, NE – October 20, 2011– Millard, a leading refrigerated warehousing and distribution services company, today announced the purchase of the Springfield, Ohio, distribution center of BEF Foods, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bob Evans Farms, Inc. Millard will take over the operation of the 127,509 square foot facility and continue to ship Bob Evans brand products to retail and foodservice customers in the eastern and southern United States beginning October 29, 2011.

Millard is committed to the future expansion of business at the Springfield distribution center, which will result in increased employment opportunities in the local market. As part of this effort, Millard will offer warehouse and logistics services to other public customers at the Springfield facility, and will grow its services to Bob Evans Foods as needed. As part of Millard’s services to Bob Evans Foods, the company also will work with Bob Evans to improve overall fleet utilization.

“By expanding our operations to include other clients, Millard will optimize the utilization of the facility and increase jobs to accommodate the anticipated growth. We are dedicated to delivering value and innovative distribution services to Bob Evans Foods and all of our clients,” said Lance Larsen, chief executive officer of Millard.
Millard operates a distribution center in Sunnyvale, Texas, that distributes Bob Evans product lines to retail and foodservice customers throughout the south and the west. Bob Evans was one of the first customers at the Sunnyvale facility when it opened in 2010.

 “Millard has been an important partner to Bob Evans and we look forward to our relationship growing as they assume ownership of our Springfield distribution center,” said Mike Townsley, president of BEF Foods, Inc. “We’re also very pleased that they’ll preserve employee jobs while allowing us to direct our resources into producing delicious food products for our customers.”

The Millard network covers most of North America from 36 facilities that feature equipment to handle all varieties of frozen and refrigerated products. Most locations have order pick services, computerized inventory management and product scanning systems, exporting services, rail access and transportation services including LTL.

Safety Pays At Millard

Posted In:Announcements, Awards September 20th, 2011

On Friday, September 16, 2011 Lance Larsen, Barry Fischetto, Sean Kimble, Todd Rogers, Doug Binford and Rachelle O’Dell made a surprise visit to the Lincoln facility to present a brand new vehicle to the 6thannual winner of the Millard Refrigerated Services Safety Award Program – Dale Wentworth.

Dale has been employed at our Lincoln, Nebraska facility for over 32 years and has held several positions during his employment at Millard from a general warehouse worker to a forklift operator.  He was promoted in 2002 to his current role of Lead Forklift Operator. He is a solid team member and a valuable part of the Millard staff in Lincoln.  He has also demonstrated that working safely pays off – he has never had a recordable accident during his 32 years at Millard!!!

Food Logistics Top 100 3PL

Posted In:Awards, Press Releases August 24th, 2011

Millard, a leading provider of top-of-the-line refrigeration and distribution services to major retail, food service and food distribution companies, has been included in Food Logistics’ 2011 listing of the Top 100 3PL providers, as a leading third-party logistics and cold storage provider to the food industry.

Millard’s national warehouse and distribution network enables customers to eliminate costs and benefit from supply chain solutions in transportation, distribution, manufacturing and value added services.

HPP Cited in Cold Facts Magazine

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Posted In:Press Releases July 25th, 2011

Cold Facts magazine recently published an article designed to help businesses find new, more efficient ways to operate using innovative technology. Millard’s High Pressure Processing was cited as a valuable addition to the cold storage industry because it offers food safety intervention to customers. Read the article.

Looking for a New Place to Dock?

Posted In:Announcements July 5th, 2011

Millard’s port facility in Theodore, Alabama (near Mobile) is expanding. Currently, the state-of-the-art terminal serves as our customers’ gateway to north/south and east/west trade lanes.

This highly sophisticated, multifaceted facility not only provides an exceptional array of temperature-controlled warehouse and distribution services, but also offers customers a full range of dry general cargo, break-bulk, bulk and project cargo, both import and export.

With nearly 300 acres of multi-use land available, we are interested in subdividing, leasing or participating in joint ventures. Learn more at MillardMaritime.com.

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