CJ Logistics Opens Second 'Starbucks Logistics Center'

CJ Logistics announced on the 22nd that it will operate the ‘Starbucks Southern Logistics Center’ in Busan International Industrial Logistics City, following Icheon in Gyeonggi Province. The center covers approximately 38,000㎡ (12,000 pyeong), equivalent to six soccer fields. It is the largest coffee-dedicated logistics center in South Korea. The daily outbound volume reaches 130,000 units.

The International Industrial Logistics City, selected by CJ Logistics as the site for the Starbucks Southern Center, is a key area in the southern logistics network adjacent to Busan New Port and Garak IC. Last year, a total of 188,000 tons of coffee beans were imported into South Korea. Of these, 93%, or 174,000 tons, were imported through Busan Port. CJ Logistics plans to have the existing Icheon Center handle the metropolitan area, while the Southern Center will cover the Gyeongsang and Jeolla regions to improve delivery efficiency.

The core of coffee flavor is the ‘coffee bean.’ Since coffee beans are fresh products, meticulous and thorough management is required. CJ Logistics maintains the appropriate temperature throughout all processes from the moment the products arrive, including storage, packaging, and delivery. To achieve this, the Southern Center itself was built as a ‘giant refrigerator.’ Afterwards, cold chain vehicles quickly deliver the products to stores. It is also capable of delivering products that are difficult to handle, such as fruits and salads.

CJ Logistics has put special effort into increasing picking speed. The Southern Center stores tens of thousands of products at different temperatures, including room temperature, refrigerated, and frozen. Each store’s ordered products and quantities vary. Because of this, about 70% of the time from order to shipment is spent on picking operations. Delivery efficiency was improved through automation facilities such as the ‘robot arm depalletizer,’ which moves stacked boxes onto conveyor belts, and ‘PAS,’ which automatically sorts products by store.

In the past, coffee logistics often involved simple delivery of coffee beans, but recently it has expanded to include all necessary supplies for store operations and comprehensive logistics services. This is because the exponential increase in coffee specialty stores has made it difficult for frontline stores to manage inventory and logistics themselves. By reducing logistics concerns through CJ Logistics and focusing on product and customer management, businesses are experiencing positive growth effects.

Kim Kwon-woong, head of CJ Logistics W&D Division, said, “Through the Starbucks Southern Center, we have captured both key logistics competitiveness factors: freshness and delivery speed.” He added, “Based on CJ Logistics’ differentiated logistics system and know-how developed over many years, we will maximize the synergy of cooperation with Starbucks.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.