SiCar Farms growth leads to South Texas expansion

SiCar Farms, Mission, Texas, is building a new distribution center in McAllen that will handle three times the current production capacity.

The company specializes in limes, but also grows and ships tomatoes, tropical fruit and other fresh produce. The new facility, slated to open in December, has 110,000 square feet, and has 28 loading doors and more than 80,000 square feet of refrigerated space.

It also has ripening rooms, three-high pallet racking systems and 12,000 square feet of office space, Dan Edmeier, vice president of sales and marketing, said in a news release.

“Our new facility increases efficiencies in many ways, for example, reducing more 50% of forklift traffic throughout the warehouse,” Edmeier said in the release. “Another key advantage is its location. Its locale on the overweight corridor allows us to maximize our container weight and provide lower costs.”

CEO Luis Gudino said the new facility will allow the company to grow exponentially with new customers. In the release, he touted the warehouse’s pallet retrieval system from Italian warehouse technology company Westfalia.

“This will ensure our customers will receive the freshest product every time and that all product is handled with cold chain integrity and first-class warehouse productivity,” Gudino said in the release.

The company recently started offering Fair Trade USA certified limes, with product grown in Colima, Mexico, and the company is “honored to play a role in the empowerment of our farm communities,” Gudino said in the release.