KWH Freeze has concluded a series of large investments and now constitutes its own division within the KWH Group. The company has worked with digitalization in order to reduce its carbon footprint.
KWH Freeze is Finland’s largest company within cold storage – close to half of all frozen food stuff consumed in Finland pass through the company warehouse in Vantaa.
During recent years KWH Freeze has been growing steadily thanks to a series of large investments which started in 2018. Year 2021 saw the conclusion of the latest major expansion of the cold storage in Vantaa, which increased its capacity by 8 percent or 6,000 square metres. The new warehouse was taken into use in February 2022.
This means that KWH Freeze has now grown so large that it constitutes its own separate division within the KWH Group earlier being a part of the division KWH Logistics. The two divisions will still continue to cooperate, for example when it comes to marketing and HR.
Turnover M€
Solar panels and environmental efforts
Cold storage is an energy intensive industry and the high energy prices during the end of 2021 didn’t go unnoticed at KWH Freeze. The company is actively pursuing alternative energy solutions which will at the same time lessen its carbon footprint. One step on this road was to double the amount of solar panels on the roof of the cold storage at Vantaa during 2021. Solar power from its own roof now generates 1.5 MW which is the equivalent of 8 percent of the total amount of electricity used by the company.
KWH Freeze is also working full time at finding solutions to harness the heat being generated by cooling the storage buildings.
Investments M€
The aftermath of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Just as many other companies, KWH Freeze was impacted somewhat by the Covid-19 Pandemic during 2021. The company put a lot of effort into making the day-to-day operations run as smoothly as possibly as well as to ensure that not too much of the staff were in quarantine at the same time. This has also succeeded well thanks to careful planning and strict internal restrictions.
Covid-19 unfortunately also to some extent limited a number of HR endeavours. Despite this it was possible to conduct a training session for foremen and as the restrictions are lifted, KWH Freeze will be holding events aimed at strengthening the sense of community and wellbeing at the workplace.
The pandemic also affected the business in another way. Due to the restrictions, demand among commercial kitchens and restaurants has been lower, but to a large extent it has been compensated by an increased demand in the grocery sector.
Personnel
Digitalization and liquidation
Another area where KWH Freeze has been putting in an enormous effort during the last years is in digitalization of the business. The company continues to strive for a deeper cooperation with its customers which amongst other things, encompasses digital connections between customers and warehouse. The order traffic by now is almost entirely digital and KWH Freeze is therefore able to flexibly meet the clients’ demands.
At the same time that digitalization is increasing, other areas are being liquidated. An era came to its end during 2021 when KWH Freeze made the decision to close its warehouse in Inkoo. The warehouse was constructed 1965 and the building would have required too large investments to be made fit for purpose for the needs of today. This means that KWH Freeze has consolidated the entirety of its operations to Vantaa.
Management
Head of Division Peter Lång, CFO Eija Savela and Development Manager Mika Halvorsen.
Warehouse Manager Jari Paasonen, IT Manager Anu Saari and IT and Process Coordinator Jonne Siitari.
Risk Management and Safety Manager, Quality and Environmental Manager Kim Elonen, Chief Accountant Anne Turunen and Warehouse and Transportation Superior Stefan Thilman.