Cidacos and Hutchison Ports BEST strengthen their commitment to sustainability

The food company Cidacos and the terminal Hutchison Ports BEST consolidate their logistics collaboration to make it more sustainable by using trains as an alternative to road transport. Thanks to the rail operator Synergy, part of the Hutchison Ports group, goods arrive from the Port of Barcelona to the Intermodal Logistics Center of La Rioja (CLIR), in Agoncillo. Cidacos has an ambitious goal: to reach a multimodal rail transport share of 60% by 2028, if infrastructure supports the company’s logistics growth.

Long-term commitment to rail

Cidacos has made intermodality a central pillar of its sustainability strategy since 2022, steering supply chain logistics toward reducing its carbon footprint and promoting sustainable solutions. This commitment is especially reflected in the determined shift toward rail as an alternative to road transport.

The role of Hutchison Ports BEST

BEST, recognized as the most sustainable terminal in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, offers highly automated infrastructure and rail connectivity through central-northern Spain and southern France, positioning it as a leading container terminal. Moreover, its rail terminal is the largest cargo terminal in Spain.

Synergy: the operator connecting port and factory

Thanks to Synergy, the rail operator of Hutchison Ports, goods arrive from the Port of Barcelona to the CLIR of Agoncillo, ensuring efficiency, traceability and emission reduction on the journey to Cidacos’ facilities in La Rioja. In three years, this collaboration between BEST – Synergy and CIDACOS has saved 547 tons of CO2e emissions, equivalent to the CO2 absorption capacity of 46 hectares of trees.

Shared value and future vision

This collaboration not only optimizes Cidacos’ logistics but also reinforces Hutchison Ports BEST’s role as a provider of sustainable solutions for industry. Both companies are exploring new ways to continue reducing the environmental impact of transport, including using the BEST terminal’s footprint as the primary source for Cidacos’ transport footprint calculations, following ISO 14083 methodology, based on the international GLEC framework from Smart Freight Center.

Marta Castro, Logistics Manager at Cidacos, comments: “Moving part of our goods by ship to BEST in Barcelona helps us achieve our decarbonization goals by connecting the ship with the train. From there, Synergy continues the journey by rail to the CLIR in Agoncillo near our production units.”

In turn, BEST, the container terminal of Hutchison Ports in Barcelona, is advancing its decarbonization plan, aiming to reduce operational emissions by 80% by 2030 and to be a zero-emission terminal before 2040.

Guillermo Belcastro, CEO of Hutchison Ports BEST, emphasizes: “We are very proud to be part of this cooperation, providing an efficient and sustainable logistics solution, while also generating a competitive advantage for Cidacos.”

Benefits of intermodality

• Sustainability: Significant reduction of the carbon footprint and alignment with decarbonization objectives.
• Efficiency: Rail has proven reliable and allows for optimized transit times thanks to factory storage capacity.
• Cost reduction: Using trains has resulted in significant savings, especially for canned goods and reefer containers.
• Flexibility: The development of new routes and connections facilitates adaptation to market demands and the country’s logistics possibilities.

In short, Cidacos is firmly advancing toward increasingly sustainable logistics, betting on intermodality by connecting ship and train, while requesting the collaboration of administrations and operators such as Hutchison Ports BEST and Synergy so that infrastructure development accompanies the sector’s transformation.