Ground broken on $860M distribution center in North Carolina

Ahold Delhaize USA has broken ground on a new distribution center in Burlington, North Carolina. The $860 million facility will add more than 1 million square feet of fresh and frozen distribution capacity to support the Food Lion brand and other grocery brands.

“This groundbreaking marks another exciting step forward in strengthening our supply chain network and ensuring we can serve our customers with the freshest products every day,” Ahold Delhaize USA CEO JJ Fleeman said in a news release. “We’re proud to invest in North Carolina — one of our home states for nearly 70 years — and to continue building on our commitment to serving local customers and communities by providing access to nutritious and affordable options.”

Construction is underway at the Burlington facility, with operations slated to begin in 2029. More than 500 jobs are expected to be created over time, according to the release.

“At ADUSA Distribution and ADUSA Transportation, we are focused on delivering best-in-class service to the grocery brands we support,” said Sanja Krajnovic, chief supply chain officer and executive vice president at Ahold Delhaize USA companies ADUSA Distribution and ADUSA Transportation. “The Burlington distribution center will be our largest facility in the network, enabling us to expand our capacity, implement new technology, and deploy automation capabilities as we modernize our supply chain.”

The Burlington site will be the fourth Ahold Delhaize USA distribution center in North Carolina, joining existing facilities in Salisbury, Butner and Dunn. Together, the sites help support a grocery supply chain network operating more than 8,000 transportation assets and logging more than 125 million miles annually, according to the release.