LOS ANGELES, CA – Last week, Whole Foods Market opened the doors to its new distribution center to a crowd of team members, company leaders, and city officials in Vernon, CA.
The 128,000 square-foot facility touts greater energy efficiency, water savings, and various other state-of-the-art innovations. It will house approximately 100 full-time team members and serve 56 stores across Arizona, Hawaii, Southern California, and southern Nevada.
Along with other city officials, Vernon Mayor Michael McCormick was also on-site for the traditional bread-breaking ceremony to give a proclamation in commemoration of the opening.
In a press release, Facility Team Leader Bryan Bergez said he was very excited about the improved efficiencies this updated center will bring. These updates include solar panels on the roof that heat water, a building for the recycling, and compost sorting collected from all 56 stores, a break room furniture made of recycled materials, including chairs made of 111 recycled coke bottles each, and picnic tables made of recycled plastic, the retailer said in a press release.
“This facility ships and receives 1.2 million cases of product per month, including perishable items like meat, poultry, cheese, produce, floral, bulk, seafood and bakery, and it has the largest recycling center in the company,” he said.
The center also includes:
- Earthquake-resistant racking in the warehouse with base isolators that help prevent the racks and product from toppling, and offer additional protection to team members
- State-of-the-art docks and 26 bay dock doors developed with straight lines from dock doors to warehouses for efficient loading and unloading
- Ammonia refrigeration as an energy efficient alternative to Freon
- A warehouse with temperature-controlled rooms for each product type, and energy efficient motion sensor LED lights
- A quality control team that works closely with the USDA to inspect all produce and floral before it goes to stores
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