Sign of the Times: Cruise Ship Chandler Liquidates Miami Warehouse

In a sign of the times, a leading food service supplier for Florida’s cruise mega-ports is auctioning off all of the remaining inventory in its soon-to-be-shuttered Miami distribution center. 

With U.S.-based cruises shut down since March 2020 and long odds for a restart anytime soon, this is a challenging year for any company that relies upon the cruise industry for revenue. That includes everyone from small shore excursion vendors in Alaska to the industrial-scale suppliers in Florida, the headquarters of the global cruise industry. 

The liquidation company Tiger Group announced last week that it will be selling over $11 million (retail value) in commercial food products in an online auction to be held February 23.  The goods account for the remaining inventory of cruise ship food supplier Kansas Marine's 114,000 square foot Miami distribution center. The liquidation includes 40 million items covering everything from beans to cookie dough to vegan products, along with the warehouse’s material handling equipment.

“This auction provides a tremendous opportunity for cruise lines, hotels, restaurants, bars, institutional feeders, and food and beverage wholesalers/brokers to stock up on their inventories," said Jonathan Holiday, Tiger’s commercial and industrial business development director. 

The timeline for the cruise industry’s restart remains clouded, especially now that Canada has enacted a ban on cruise ships on both its coasts - effectively closing off access for the busy Seattle-to-Alaska cruise trade. The last attempt at a Caribbean cruise was in November, and it ended in a COVID-19 outbreak on board. Michael Rubin, the vice president of governmental affairs for the Florida Ports Council, recently told the Miami Herald that a return to full-scale cruising could be up to a year away.