New Woolworths DC will improve Melbourne traffic flows

MELBOURNE, Australia – Woolworths and Vaughan Constructions have commenced building the supermarket chain’s new Melbourne Fresh Distribution Centre (MFDC) in the suburb of Truganina.

The multi-million state-of-the-art facility will store and deliver fresh produce and chilled products to hundreds of supermarkets in the state of Victoria and will create 200 jobs during construction and 300 permanent new jobs when it opens in late 2020.

The MFDC will be co-located with Woolworths’ meat supplier Hilton Meats’ production facility, and replace the current operations at the Mulgrave Produce DC.

Co-location with Hilton and closer proximity to more fresh food suppliers will take up to 600 trucks off the West Gate Bridge, a key artery, each week and a further 3,000 truck movements off Melbourne roads each year.

Woolworths chief supply chain officer Paul Graham said: “At one-and-a-half times the size of the MCG field, the distribution centre will provide a significant uplift in capacity to support our continued growth in Victoria.

Victoria Minister for Ports and Freight, Melissa Horne, said: “Woolworths’ decision to develop its new Melbourne Fresh Distribution centre at Truganina is a big win for locals in the western suburbs and a huge tick for our planners, who have been working with industry and local communities to take more trucks off local streets in the west.

“The West Gate Tunnel Project will remove trucks from local streets and cut travel times for freight as we continue to work and on the business case for the Western Interstate Freight Terminal (WIFT) – a world-class freight and logistics precinct, including an interstate intermodal terminal.”

At full capacity more than one and a half million cartons a week will move through MFDC bringing customers fresh fruit and vegetables and chilled goods from more than 500 suppliers.

The MFDC is also targeting a Five Star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, with a solar panel system on the roof, charge points for electric trucks, and fuel savings of more than 400,000 litres each year from transport efficiencies. The Mulgrave Produce DC will continue to operate until the MFDC opens in late 2020.