Produce giant opens $33M cold storage hub in Pharr — its biggest Valley project yet

A new $33 million cold storage facility that recently opened in Pharr represents the largest investment so far by a major produce broker in the Rio Grande Valley. 

Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based C.H. Robinson’s affiliate Robinson Fresh, has a new 142,000-square-foot logistics center in South Texas near the intersection of East Las Milpas Road and South Veterans Boulevard. 

The facility is about 3.5 miles north of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, where most northbound commercial truck traffic crosses into the Valley, especially with fresh produce from Mexico and South America. The facility can store up to 9,000 pallets and can hold produce below freezing across 69 loading docks. 

Robinson Fresh estimates that tractor trailers with limes, for example, could reach major markets across the South and into the Midwest between one to three days and hit the East Coast in three to four days. The produce coming through Texas is not likely destined for the West Coast but it can be directed there if there’s market demand, officials said. 

The new cold storage facility will replace the company’s existing footprint in the Valley, shutting its Edinburg and Weslaco locations as a result.

“We wanted a more modern, updated facility right at the border with an extensive footprint and more capabilities for inbound quality control and repacking,” Jose Rossignoli, president of Robinson Fresh, told the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal. “We’re very excited about this new location. This facility really strengthens the entire fresh produce supply chain — not only for our growers, but also importers, retailers, and consumers.” 

One key piece of that modernization is the ability for the company to facilitate faster clearance through customs to reduce bridge wait times. Trucks will be able to back up into the dock doors, which are sealed around the edges to enable immediate cooling during transfer and before repacking.

Robinson Fresh’s contracted tractor trailers are already temperature controlled while traveling from South or Central America and Mexico, even before they cross into the U.S., company officials said. 

“Having this facility with 69 dock doors, multiple temperature zones, allows us to minimize wait time,” Rossignoli said. 

Robinson Fresh is the anchor tenant for the CIL Fresh produce park developed by Joaquin Spamer.

The facility currently employs about 70 workers, including 10 from C.H. Robinson, with additional hiring expected in the coming months.

About half of all the produce imported from Mexico is imported across the Texas border, according to the Center for North American Studies. The single largest port of entry was Pharr, followed by Nogales, Arizona; Laredo, Texas; and Otay Mesa, California. 

The company manages roughly 37 million shipments annually, representing about $23 billion in freight across 75,000 customers and 450,000 contracted carriers.

Despite that scale, the company said it has not yet experienced major driver shortages despite new industry requirements, including English-language proficiency rules for international CDL drivers.

Another variable in the trucking industry is the price of diesel, which has shot up 67% over the past year from about $2.83 per gallon to $4.73 per gallon in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area, according to AAA data. 

While the price of diesel directly impacts the cost of freight shipments, it’s not always the price that matters the most for brokers like Robinson Fresh. Instead, officials said price stability matters more because sudden swings can create unexpected costs after contracts are signed.

“Diesel volatility matters more than diesel prices. In a sense, diesel is a pass-through cost. Rapid swings create timing gaps in fuel surcharges and it squeezes small carriers,” Rossignoli said. “Budgets are a little harder to plan. But our role is to absorb complexity and keep the freight moving. So we’re helping customers understand fuel surcharges and adapt to increased volatility. To help carriers, we have waived cash advance fees on CH Robinson fuel card transactions.”