Operations Begin at Dot Foods’ New Distribution Center in Ontario
INGERSOLL, Ontario – Dot Foods Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Dot Foods, Inc., the largest food industry redistributor in North America, began moving into its new distribution center (DC) in Ingersoll, Ontario this month. The new $50 CAD million, 168,875 square-foot facility is located at 100 Ken McKee Street. The first loads of dry product made their way into the warehouse in mid-May, and Dot began stocking its cooler and frozen warehouses in early June. Dot has hired 45 employees to date and looks to add more than 20 additional people to its Ingersoll team this year.
“Moving product into the building is an exciting milestone for us in the process of opening a new facility,” said Matt Holt, Dot Foods’ vice president of distribution centers. “But the best part of opening a new location is building our team. We have some great people already on board, working in our warehouse and driving our trucks, and there are many career opportunities still available—some more specialized that require no experience, like the openings on our refrigeration team or our truck driver roles, and others, like those in our warehouse, where we will provide the training on-site.”
Dot will gradually ramp up the volume handled by the Ingersoll distribution center, along with the size of its team over the coming months. The forecasted growth is so strong, that shortly after breaking ground on construction in 2022, Dot decided to further increase the size of its frozen storage warehouse, and immediately started work on the first ‘expansion.’ Construction of the freezer expansion will wrap up late summer. The company and its transportation affiliate Dot Transportation Canada, Inc. will employ 200 people in the first three to five years of operation of the Ingersoll facility. Interested applicants can view all available careers here.
“There’s a lot of opportunity for our distribution model in Canada,” explained Grayham Thomson, Dot Foods Canada’s new general manager. “The Ingersoll distribution center is going to allow us to better serve our current customers and reach new ones, and we’re really excited about the potential we see here.”
Thomson joined the Dot team this spring, assuming oversight of both the new Ingersoll distribution center, and Dot’s facility in Calgary. He brings more than 15 years of experience in distribution to the role and is excited about growing the business and the Dot Foods Canada and Dot Transportation Canada family. Joining Thomson on the Dot Foods Canada leadership team are Kim Austin, human resources manager, and Khaleem Mohammed, director of warehousing. Kim has been busy since her hire in January, putting her extensive HR experience and knowledge of the region to work supporting the Dot and DTI team. She and her family live in nearby Tillsonburg, Ontario. Khaleem took over responsibility for Dot Foods Canada’s warehouse operations in both Ingersoll and Calgary in January. He is also very familiar with the community, as a resident of London, Ontario.
Dot initially established operations in Canada in 2016 with the purchase of Canadian food redistributor Marketwest, and set up distribution centers in Calgary, Alberta, and Brampton, Ontario. With the completion of the Ingersoll facility, Dot will end operations at its currently leased Brampton location. Phase one of the Ingersoll distribution center includes offices and dry, refrigerated, and frozen warehouse space. The L-shaped design of the building gives Dot the ability to easily expand all warehouse and office spaces in future years, up to as much as 350,000 square feet, to meet the company’s growing customer demand in Canada. Eventually, Dot will also add on-site garage facilities to support the Dot Transportation Canada, Inc., fleet. Dot selected Maple Reinder as the design-builder of the project and worked with many local and regional contractors on this project.
Founded in 1960 and headquartered in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, Dot Foods is North America’s largest food industry redistributor, serving all 50 states and more than 55 countries with a product offering of 125,000 items.
About Dot
Dot Foods, Inc. carries 125,000 products from 1,020 food industry manufacturers making it the largest food industry redistributor in North America. Through Dot Transportation, Inc., an affiliate of Dot Foods, the company distributes foodservice, convenience, retail, and vending products to distributors in all 50 states and more than 55 countries. Dot Foods operates 12 U. S. distribution centers, which are located in Bullhead City, Arizona; Modesto, California; Bear, Delaware; Vidalia, Georgia; Burley, Idaho; Mt. Sterling, Illinois; University Park, Illinois; Cambridge City, Indiana; Williamsport, Maryland; Liverpool, New York; Ardmore, Oklahoma; and Dyersburg, Tennessee. Dot’s 13th U.S. location is currently under construction in Manchester, Tennessee. For information, visit DotFoods.com.
Dot Foods Canada, a subsidiary of Dot Foods, established operations in Toronto, Ontario and Calgary, Alberta, in 2016. The company is currently building a new facility in Ingersoll for its Ontario operations, which will replace its headquarters and operations in Brampton in 2023. Dot Foods Transportation Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Dot Foods Transportation, Inc., distributes a diverse range of 3,300 Canadian and American products for more than 275 Canadian distribution points.
Dot Foods and Dot Transportation are both looking to fill several positions for full and part-time drivers and warehouse personnel at all U.S. locations and in Canada. To learn more about careers at Dot Foods visit DotFoodsCareers.com and follow @DotFoodsCareers. For more on opportunities available with Dot Transportation, visit DriveForDTI.com. Information on all careers available at Dot Foods Canada can be found by visiting DotFoodsCareers.ca. Details on driving jobs with Dot Transportation Canada Inc., is available at DriveForDTI.ca.
