Northland Cold Storage Roots

Northland Cold Storage, Inc. was founded as Northland Terminal & Storage in 1957. Alvin Pokel Sr. operated an ice and coal delivery business in Plymouth, WI in the 1940's. With the advent of commercial ice making machines and the refrigerator replacing the standard ice boxes, Al had to find a new use for his storage buildings.

Pokel received one of the precious few permits from the US government to expand his business during World War II because the dairy industry needed ice to refrigerate cheese going to the armed forces. After the war the dairy industry focused on domestic demand. Ice was no longer needed, but storage facilities were. Al converted his ice facility to a cheese storage operation, storing products for companies like Kraft and Borden's.

In the late 1950's Al Sr. and his two sons saw an opportunity to purchase a 50,000 square foot Super Valu distribution warehouse in Green Bay, WI. The going was tough. Northland was competing with two well established cold storage operations in Green Bay.

With the third generation of the Pokel family managing the business, Northland Cold Storage has grown to over 500,000 square feet of primarily refrigerated and frozen warehousing in Green Bay and Wausau, WI, as well as an affiliated operation in central Nebraska. Northland has developed an impressive array of value added services as well. For more information, visit our cold storage services section.