NewCold Advances 75,000-Pallet Automated Cold Storage Hub in Bucharest

BUCHAREST, Romania — NewCold hosted customers, partners, government representatives and members of the business community at its Bucharest facility on Oct. 29, 2026, to showcase the development of its next-generation cold-chain operation in Romania. The company said the site is preparing to expand from manual operations to a fully automated high-bay facility, with launch planned for early 2027.

NewCold Bucharest Moves From Greenfield Project to Operational Hub

NewCold said NewCold Bucharest has developed from a greenfield project into an operational logistics hub. The site already offers 6,400 pallet positions through its manual operation. The next phase will add a 75,000-pallet automated high-bay warehouse, supported by proprietary warehouse management systems and end-to-end data visibility. If the existing manual capacity remains in operation alongside the new building, total site capacity would be approximately 81,400 pallet positions.

The facility is designed around high storage density, energy-efficient operations and the ability to scale from manual to automated capacity, the company said. Services identified for the Bucharest operation include labelling, co-packing and mixing, picking and cross-docking.

Company Executives Outline Regional Strategy

NewCold said its investment in Bucharest reflects a long-term view of Romania's growing role in the European food supply chain and the opportunities emerging across Central and South-Eastern Europe. The site has access to Romania's principal logistics corridors and regional distribution routes, providing connectivity for domestic and international food supply chains. The development is intended to support food producers, processors, retailers and distributors across Romania and South-Eastern Europe.

"Our ambition in Europe is to connect customers to a network that supports their supply chains beyond individual markets. Bucharest is an important part of that ambition, linking our investment in Romania with our wider European operations. By bringing storage, transport and technology together, we aim to give food businesses more options as their logistics needs evolve," said Jonas Swarttouw, Managing Director Europe.

Artur Spala, Operations Director CEE, said the shift to automated capacity is aimed at building an operational foundation for customers' long-term needs. "For food businesses across Central and Eastern Europe, expanding distribution means managing greater complexity. Our focus is on making that manageable: reliable day-to-day operations, visibility of stock and services that fit different customer requirements. In Bucharest, the move from manual operations to automated capacity is about building the operational foundation to support those needs over the long term," Spala said.

Marian Predoi, Country Manager Romania, said ahead of the event that the Bucharest development was taking shape through the daily work of the team and close cooperation with customers and local partners. He said welcoming guests to the site would provide an opportunity to show what NewCold was building, listen to their business needs and discuss how the company could support them. He added that those conversations were just as important as the facility itself.

Event Draws Diplomatic and Investment Agency Representatives

The event program included contributions from Swarttouw alongside representatives of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Romanian Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade. Guests toured the facility, met the NewCold team and discussed the future of food logistics in Romania and across Central and South-Eastern Europe with customers, partners, potential partners, local authorities and members of the wider Romanian business community.

Bucharest Logistics Market Context

Bucharest is Romania's dominant logistics market, with more than 4 million square meters of modern industrial and logistics stock, roughly half of the country's total modern inventory. Approximately 725,000 square meters of industrial and logistics space was taken up nationally during the first nine months of 2026, about 3% below the comparable period a year earlier. Romania's national vacancy rate stood at 5.5% in the third quarter, while Bucharest's was approximately 4.4%. Prime Bucharest rents were around €4.80 per square meter per month.

Supply is rising. Romania was expected to receive approximately 653,000 square meters of new industrial and logistics space in 2026, nearly twice the 342,000 square meters completed in 2025. Transactions in the Bucharest-Ilfov region totaled approximately 265,000 square meters during the first nine months of 2026, down roughly 41% from 448,000 square meters in the same period of 2025. Companies seeking more than approximately 10,000 square meters in a particular location generally require a built-to-suit solution because suitable existing space is limited.

A highly automated cold-storage building differs from conventional logistics space, requiring specialized refrigeration, racking, automation, power infrastructure and food-handling systems. The planned 75,000-pallet capacity also means the facility is measured by storage density rather than conventional leasable floor area.

About NewCold

NewCold describes itself as the world's third largest refrigerated food logistics provider. The company operates 27 highly automated, energy-efficient warehouses across three continents, with combined capacity of more than 2.5 million pallet positions. It is supported by a growing transport fleet, proprietary technology and a team of 3,000 people from more than 40 cultures, providing end-to-end supply chain solutions to food companies.

Sources

• NewCold press release: NewCold brings industry leaders together in Bucharest as it builds for the future of food logistics in Romania