BCS continues to grow as a Distribution Center (DC) for Grocery Chains, Food Producers and Third Party Logistics (3PLs), Nationally and Internationally.
BCS has amazing logistics for the right food company, or their 3PL providers:
- Our own ocean dock for reefer cargo ships, a direct link internationally and to Alaska
- A natural hub for Canada: Canadian products coming to the US and American/International products staged for Canada
- Large scale Pacific Northwest agriculture and seafood production – hundreds of millions of pounds of berries, potatoes, apples, meat, and local and Alaskan seafood
- 18 SQF food warehouses regionally, from -20F frozen storage to ambient temperature dry storage, including large scale chilled storage (we have handled over 120M pounds per year of fresh soups, and we have the custom WMS to manage every pound across the country)
- 12 leased processing facilities: for Primary Food Processing Value-Added processing, and 20 acres available for more leased processing facilities, warehouses, and offices
As a result, BCS has become a true Distribution Center (DC) for some of our customers.
Where Has Warehousing Developed Into Expansive Logistic Distribution Centers?
Let’s take Whole Foods for example. Many of our food producing customers sell to Whole Foods. In the case of seafood, BCS has a few different reasons to host a DC for Whole Foods. BCS stores high end hook and line caught seafood products for Seafood Producers Cooperative (SPC) that go to Whole Foods. Our private ocean terminal and Coastal Transportation Ltd’s regularly scheduled direct shipping service from Alaska makes for unbeatable logistics into BCS, SPC is even able to deliver fresh fish from Alaska in 36 hours. BCS hosts 12 leased Food Processing Plants, several of them seafood ‘tenants’. In 2018 Whole Foods made BCS one of their Distribution Centers for several of their seafood suppliers.
One of the largest Seafood Companies in Canada (and North America) has stored frozen products and leased office space with us for decades as they bought large US Alaskan seafood producers. BCS has developed into a multi faceted DC for them over the years: we store many of their Alaskan products that are sold in the US, and internationally, including products sold and value-added in Canada. Some of those branded value-added products are brought to BCS from Canada for US distribution. Some of their Alaskan products are brought down directly to our private dock, they also unload their Washington State caught seafood at our dock. They also handle and process with companies that BCS lease production facilities. Some of these products are sold to Whole Foods, and become part of their Distribution Center. You can see how BCS’ many logistics advantages come together to form Distribution Centers for our customers.
Multi-Faceted National and International Distribution Centers
Large International 3PL companies represent many food producers, and grocers and restaurant chains. Some of their products and lines of business call for a more expansive Distribution Center with BCS. With one such 3PL, we originally worked on helping coordinate six food manufacturers in the southwest US, each trucking full loads of manufactured ready-to-eat foods to BCS, stored in their own accounts, and then shipping full mixed truckloads going to the customers DCs in Western Canada. Another situation was accumulating US pork in Bellingham and deliver LTL to Western Canada. Recently we have been storing and shipping Specialized Reefer Ships full of french fries to Asia from BCS’ Private Ocean Terminal for a major Fortune 500 restaurant chain, and now that 3PL is expanding BCS’ DC to more food North American products to ship with those french fries, and Asian food products to ship back to BCS for distribution in the US, minimizing their overall freight costs. BCS’ substantial logistics enable these 3PLs to develop multi-faceted national and international Distribution Centers at BCS.
Agriculture DCs are Value-Adding at BCS too
Washington State is a huge agricultural producer. Regional Agriculture companies store large amounts of fruit and vegetables at BCS. We store their fruit and ship it directly to Costco, Walmart, and the other large grocers in North America. Our largest local agriculture producer leases a value-added processing plant with us. We receive their bulk fruit, return it to their plant throughout the year, and repack it back into storage for direct distribution to the largest grocery chains in the US and Canada, without stopping at forward warehouses.
Many Reasons for BCS’ DCs – Much More Than Just Storage
Washington and Pacific Northwest agriculture, Washington and Alaskan seafood, US and international meat, etc… BCS has been a very resourceful and direct logistical Distribution Center for the US, Canada, and internationally, for 75 years.
