Liberty Freezers receives Featured Company Award

London ON – (September 27, 2006) The London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) today announced Liberty Freezers as the recipient of the Featured Company Award. John Diduck, President of Liberty will receive a commemorative plaque from Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best at the city council meeting on October 2.
Liberty Freezers is a leader in temperature controlled third party supply change management. Headquartered in London, Liberty provides service and innovative warehousing and logistics solutions to the food and beverage industry. The company also has facilities in Newmarket and Chatham.
In May 2004, John Diduck, President, and Guy Gillyatt, Senior Vice President, invested more than $6.5 million to acquire a 153,000 sq ft facility on 20 acres at 535 Sovereign Road. Since then, Liberty has invested an additional $1.5 million into the property for operational efficiencies and benefits.
“This (London) is a strategic location that will allow our customers in Southwestern Ontario to streamline their supply chain without making a large capital investment. We see tremendous potential in London and we look forward to working with the business community to best serve their third party warehousing needs.” says Diduck.
According to Diduck, the company will continue to focus on London and expand the facility to draw more multinational food processors to the city. In 2007 Liberty will add 50,000 sq ft to the 535 Sovereign Rd. location in efforts to manage General Mills growth and for the benefit of local processors and producers. This will add an additional 5 team members, bringing the total number of employees to 55.
Liberty is the national distribution centre for all of General Mills Canada’s frozen and refrigerated products, distributing 7 million cases per year to retail distributions centres and store locations. General Mills travels to the London facility for bi-weekly planning meetings and supply chain updates. Other significant Liberty customers include Carriere Foods Inc., (Canada’s largest frozen vegetable processor), Florentina Pasta, Silani, and Labatt Breweries.
John continues to engage in discussions with transportation companies and carriers, promoting the benefits of London as a strategic hub for freight consolidation and pooling programs. By continuing to focus on the logistics and the supply chain area, John hopes to grow the London Liberty campus into a national distribution hub for the food sector.

The company is also engaged in community initiatives and when recently approached by the LEDC to assist members of the Japanese community Diduck immediately indicated his willingness to assist. Diduck also lends assistance to Ontario’s Food Bank programs and the Salvation Army.

For more information, please contact:
John Diduck
President, Liberty Freezers
Tel: 519-453-4131

Heather Pilot
Director, Business Development
London Economic Development Corporation
Tel: 519-661-4957