MLP Bucharest West to house banana ripening facilities

One of Europe’s largest distributors of bananas marketed under the Yellow brand name is set to become a tenant at MLP Bucharest West in the first quarter of 2020. MLP Group was once again assisted by Dunwell, the leading industrial real estate agency in Romania.

In November 2019, a distributor of bananas sold under the Yellow brand signed a contract with MLP Group to lease about 4,000 m2 of modern warehouse space, which is scheduled to be handed over to the tenant in February 2020. “Romania has recently been going through an economic boom, attracting a growing number of investors. Ground was broken on our project at the beginning of 2019, and because we started building it on a speculative basis, we have been able to deliver the facility to our client so fast,” says Agnieszka Góźdź, Director of the Sales Department for Poland and Romania at MLP Group S.A. A family company that has been present on the market for 31 years, Citronex started as a fruit and vegetable trading business. Today, it is an importer and distributor of bananas, a tomato producer and an owner of petrol stations, hotels and restaurants. The company is a leading importer of bananas in Europe, supplying major retail chains, with the fruit imported mainly from plantations in Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica. Bananas are distributed to hypermarkets and supermarkets, including Carrefour, Tesco and Biedronka in Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, and Hungary. The Group established its presence in Romania in 2018 and will take over another distribution facility at the MLP Bucharest West logistics park in the first quarter of 2020. “Finding a complementary partner was key to us, so before we made the decision we devoted time to thoroughly review the proposals and capabilities of various industry players. The decision to partner with MLP Group was driven primarily by the determination, speed and effectiveness of the company’s representatives in solving problems, as well as the reasonable market price. MLP Group not only has the expertise but also the resources needed to execute a demanding and complex project like this one. In the course of our working relationship, representatives of the Polish and Romanian branches of the company showed deep understanding of our needs and expectations, contributing to efficient and fruitful cooperation,” says Marek Szulc, Project Development Manager at YellowFreshFruits. S. R. L Phase one of the MLP Bucharest West logistics park has an area of 22,000 m2, of which 12,000 m2 has already been built and leased, with another 10,000 m2 to be delivered in January 2020. The general contractor for the facility is Sagex Construct, which has many years of experience in building warehouse facilities. MLP Bucharest West is a new logistics and production park with a target area of as much as 99,000 m2. Excellent location is undoubtedly number one factor in selecting the site for business operations – it is just 15 km away from the country’s capital city and has direct access to the city ring road and A1 motorway.