The Netherlands, located at the heart of Europe, is surrounded by Germany to the east, Belgium and France to the south, and lies across the North Sea from the United Kingdom to the west.

To its southwest is the Port of Rotterdam*, which handles the largest volume of cargo in Europe.
Rotterdam is located at the mouth of the Rhine River, which flows from the Swiss Alps through Germany, France, and the Netherlands to the North Sea, and has flourished as Europe's largest port (Europort) since the Industrial Revolution.
Source: Port and Harbor Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, from "Containerization International Yearbook 1982" and Lloyd's List "ONE HUNDRED PORTS 2023.

Hazu of the Overseas Business Development Department, who has been involved in the European business for many years, explains the Nichirei Logistics Group's overseas expansion, which began here in Rotterdam.

At the time, we were considering if we could expand our business overseas by taking advantage of the refrigerated warehousing know-how we had developed in Japan. However, the group did not have a grand overseas business plan then.

To assess whether it would be really possible to realize new pre-start businesses and projects in Europe, an area that was completely new to us, we conducted feasibility studies in advance. In 1988, Nichirei acquired Eurofrigo B.V., a Rotterdam-based refrigerated warehouse company,

This was the beginning of the Nichirei Logistics Group's overseas expansion.

However, there are a number of obstacles that Japanese companies must overcome to directly acquire and operate overseas companies, such as language barriers and legal systems.

Therefore, in 1989, the group established Nichirei Holding Holland B.V. as an intermediate holding company to plan strategies for European operations and to acquire and manage operating companies.
The group also acquired Thermotraffic Holland and Thermotraffic GmbH, which were engaged in the low-temperature transportation and customs clearance business, and launched a forwarding business that handles everything from warehousing to import customs clearance and land transportation by truck.

Since then, the Nichirei Logistics Group has expanded not only to the Netherlands, but also to Poland, France, and the United Kingdom.
The group has brought under its umbrella companies with different strengths, such as those specializing in distribution processing, those handling not only food logistics but also pharmaceutical logistics requiring temperature control, and those providing detailed services to retailers. By doing so, we have built a system capable of offering various one-stop services across Europe and have continued to expand our business scope.

However, as the business continued to expand, Hazu focused on one issue.

The Nichirei Logistics Group ranks fifth* in terms of global share of refrigerated warehouse equipment capacity.

The key to this is providing a one-stop service.

In Europe, unlike the logistics business in Japan, goods must be delivered across borders and throughout Europe. For example, a Japanese domestic distance, from Tokyo to Kyushu, is equal to the distance from the Netherlands to Italy with several borders in between.

Therefore, in our European operations, we provide an integrated services from ocean transport, customs clearance, Veterinary or Phytosanitary check, and storage to land transport. In addition to this one-stop service, we provide value-added services from the customer's perspective to achieve a higher level of service.

The Nichirei Logistics Group now has a cumulative delivery record to 46 countries in Europe and neighboring countries, including Morocco, Turkey, and Azerbaijan.
Seven major companies support this extensive logistics network.

“Part 2: Behind the Scenes of Global Logistics: Seven Forces Linking 46 Countries (tentative)" (to be released in November) will unravel the characteristics, strengths, and ways of cooperation of the seven major companies that play a central role in the group's European operations. operations.