Chainsaw-carved ribbon cutting marks launch of autonomous ice production.
In a town known for strawberries, Plant City residents now have something else to brag about: their ice is officially homegrown.
On Tuesday morning, The Winn-Dixie Company turned heads and cooled things down, with a ribbon-cutting that was anything but ordinary. Instead of satin and scissors, leaders fired up chainsaws and sliced through a 250-pound block of ice, sending frosty shards flying in the Florida sunshine.
The spectacle marked the debut of a new autonomous ice micro-factory at the grocer’s Plant City Distribution Center, part of an expanded partnership with Relocalize. The high-tech facility produces ice right where it’s needed, meaning the bags of chilling coolers across Tampa Bay could now come straight from Plant City itself.
Beyond the show, the project carries a serious mission. By making ice closer to customers, the company aims to cut down on long-distance transportation and the emissions that come with it, while delivering a fresher product.
The facility will produce SE Grocers Party Cubes, billed as a hyper-local, plastic-negative packaged ice. The cubes are already stocked in a nearby Temple Terrace store, with more Tampa locations set to follow soon.
