Almer Delivers a New US$29.5 Million Cold Storage Facility to Nuevo León

Almacenes Mercedes (Almer) has opened its new temperature-controlled facility in Monterrey, representing an investment of US$29.5 million. The complex operates entirely with carbon dioxide (CO₂) as a refrigerant—a technology that, given the scale of its implementation, represents an innovative step forward for the Mexican cold chain industry.

This new facility has a total floor area of 9,000m², with 6,500m² dedicated to refrigeration operations. It also features four cold storage and freezing chambers at -20°C, with a capacity of 15,000 positions; a dual-temperature cold storage room with 900 storage positions, and four blast-freezing chambers at -38°C with a dual-injection system, capable of processing the equivalent of four trailer loads in 24-hour cycles. The complex also features a maneuvering yard of more than 4,000 m², 12 loading docks, and a refrigerated staging area of up to 1,000 m².

Refrigerated warehouses are one of the final links in the Federal Inspection System (TIF), which is essential for ensuring that food is kept under the necessary sanitary conditions until it reaches the consumer.

For this reason, President Alonso Fernández, president of the National Association of Federal Inspection-Type Facilities (ANETIF), emphasizes the importance of the new Almer plant in the national agri-food ecosystem. The official emphasized that the TIF supply chain begins in the fields, passing through ranches, meat-processing plants, processing facilities, and packing houses before reaching the refrigerated storage facilities—one of the final checkpoints before distribution and consumption.

With this new facility—the company’s second temperature-controlled facility—Almer now has seven facilities in the Monterrey metropolitan area. Six of these facilities have 60,000 dry storage units, and the company also operates a food processing plant for Grupo Minsa.