The global cold storage market was valued at USD 135 billion in 2023 and grew at a CAGR of 15% from 2024 to 2033. The market is expected to reach USD 546.15 billion by 2033. The increasing demand for robust supply chain logistics and transportation across diverse industries will drive the growth of the global cold storage market.

Market Introduction:

Cold storage means a particular method of preservation for certain products by storing them at certain low temperatures. It has a provision mainly in the areas of food processing, drugs and pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, chemical and others that require temperature control to avoid deterioration of products. The use of refrigerator preserves food items such as fruits and vegetables, meat, milk, eggs, and fish. It retains their freshness, nutritional content, and durability. The temperature is normally preserved between 0°C to 4°C for chilled products and at a temperature below -18°C for the frozen products. It has become clear that cold storage is critically important not only because of the need to preserve the food but also in order to meet set legal requirements and to minimize the cases of food wastage which will prove costly to producers and the environment. Frozen temperatures are used in the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industries for vaccines, biologic products, insulin, and other sensitive temperature products. Present day cold storage facilities incorporate new age technology for instant temperature, humidity and energy controls. The systems are highly automated with AI, IoT sensors which monitor conditions and report back to operators. This makes it possible to maintain products at appropriate conditions to meet their best quality and reduces on human interference. Cold storage can be an extensive network on a commercial level comprising of large buildings, cold storage networks can also be small ones such as cold rooms or coolers in homes and businesses.

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Recent Development

• While the state of Odisha needs roughly 13 lakh tons of potatoes annually, barely 20% of those demands are met by the state's potato crop. After an embarrassing failure to achieve self-sufficiency in tuber production six years ago due to a shortage of cold storages, the Odisha government offered a 50% energy rate subsidy to cold storages in order to stock tuber. In a statement, the state department of agriculture and farmers' empowerment established a three-year subsidy program for cold storages with a 500 ton or larger capacity, running from 2024–2026.

Market Dynamics:

Drivers

The rapid rise of the food and beverage industry – The food and beverage industry is one of the biggest factors that have significantly propelled the demand for cold storage. As the world population expands along with rapid urbanization, there is increased demand for several and diverse perishable foods including fruits and vegetables, dairy products, seafood and meats. Buyers are becoming more and more focused on convenience thus the growth of the frozen and convenience food markets, which contributes to the increasing demand for cold storage. There is a new trend in healthy nutrition where people are willing to buy more organic, gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian products. Such products tend to have a relatively shorter than average issued life and are comparatively heat delicate, which again expounds the need for improved cold storage systems. Further, the novel food delivery models including meal-kit services and grocery e-commerce also escalates the requirement of cold storage capabilities. The increased globalisation which has increased the market on imported perishable goods also contributes to the increasing demand for cold storage. Technological advancements are enabling the transportation of more perishable crops and products such as fruits, seafood and other perishable crops and products over much longer distances than before. The steady increase in demand for food and beverages will drive the global cold storage market’s growth.

Restraints:

High capital investments – Large capital investments and operating expenses are two of the biggest challenges that affect the cold storage market. Building a cold storage facility demands a large amount of capital because of the infrastructural and equipment needs. The constructional procedures of cold storage include the insulation, refrigeration, climate control systems, and sophisticated monitoring systems. These components are costly. Furthermore, the operating costs are considerably high including energy consumption and other regular inspection and maintenance needs. additionally, the increased cost of energy given the volatile electricity expenses also adds to the high costs. Maintenance cost also includes depreciation of equipment and most often than not requires periodic servicing to function effectively. Higher capital and operating costs are the primary factors that hinder small companies and even large companies from adding more cold storage, thereby slowing the growth of the cold storage industry and scalability.

Opportunities:

Technological advancements – Technology has revolutionised cold storage solutions making them efficient, cheap, and more reliable. Among them, the major is the utilization of Internet of Things (IOT) technology allows for remote monitoring of data collection from cold storage facilities. IoT sensors help monitor temperature, humidity and many other factors to ensure the right conditions for storing perishable products at all times. They assist with real-time monitoring to minimise cases of errors that are common in human operation. It also supports quick identification of problems that would lead to spoilage. Automation and robotics are also being applied progressively which eliminates the need of human personnel contributing to higher accuracy and better reliability. Such systems provide a means for increasing throughput and decreasing operating expenses while at the same time offering the essential method to minimize manual intervention in the handling and storage of perishable products. AI and machine learning are improving the ability to predict equipment failure and improving efficiency when it comes to energy use. Another potential benefit is that using analysis from IoT sensors to forecast failures and enable proactive action. All these contribute to the market’s growth and development during the forecast period.

Regional Segmentation Analysis:

The regions analyzed for the market include North America, Europe, South America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. North America emerged as the most significant global cold storage market, with a 35% market revenue share in 2023.

The region has quality cold storage facilities that are fitted with modern technologies in refrigeration and temperature tracking systems. The deployment of interconnection technologies including IoT, Automation and AI advance organizational performance and contributing to the continuing regional dominance in the global market. The highly saturated food and beverage market with numerous large producers and sellers stimulates the increase in the demand for cold storage. In addition, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set high standards in food safety measure and to meet these standards market players must adhere to high standards for food storage, thereby contributing to the increasing demand for cold storage. North America is well positioned in trade, transporting perishable products easily through its numerous passage ways, which also requires extensive cold storage infrastructure.

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Storage Type Segment Analysis

The storage type segment is divided into facilities and services, ad equipment. The facilities and services segment dominated the market, with a market share of around 55% in 2023. One main reason why facilities and services dominate the cold storage market more than equipment are due to the systems’ broader and united approach in handling the perishable products. Cold storages offer large purpose-built structures that are intended for storing different types of products in a required temperature range. These centres are capable of processing a large number of perishable goods and the centres can have different temperature ranges to meet the distinct requirements of products. Such flexibility is important for all businesses requiring storage of a number of products. Cold storage also has other added services, including receival and storage, sort and transfer, packaging, identification and grading and checking on merchandise quality. They also improve the general supply chain effectiveness to increase business operational efficiency through the reduction of supply chain incidences of errors in handling. Therefore, it is apparent that the concept of facilities and services has its competitive advantage reflecting their capacity to deliver a comprehensive cold chain management to ensure operational effectiveness, product quality, as well as regulatory compliance and thereby the dominance in the market.

• The Latin American provider of temperature-controlled food storage and logistics solutions, Emergent Cold Latin America, has announced the addition of 22,000 extra pallet slots to its capacity in Colombia as part of two projects to expand its storage infrastructure. The business, which already has a facility in Cartagena, plans to construct an extra warehouse there. Located in the Parque Central Free Trade Zone, this new warehouse will have a capacity of 9,000 pallets for chilled or frozen commodities. A newly acquired facility in Funza, in the Bogotá metropolitan region, will be expanded to create 13,000 new jobs.

Temperature range Segment Analysis

The temperature range segment is divided into chilled (0°C to 15°C), frozen (-18°C to -25°C), and deep-frozen (Below -25°C). The frozen (-18°C to -25°C) segment dominated the market, with a market share of around 38% in 2023. The major temperature type in the cold storage market is the frozen storage which is adapted a temperature range of -18°C – -25°C due its importance in maintaining the quality and safety of perishable commodities. Such temperature range is critical in controlling microbial growth and reducing enzymatic activities, the two factors that cause spoilage of products especially food products and those that are used to treat ailments in pharmaceutical industry. In the food sector, this process is necessary for storing meats, sea foods and fish, fruits and vegetables, preserved and processed foods and even convenience foods like frozen dinners. Continuing expansion of the frozen food market led by the shift to convenience food were stored for a longer duration has strengthened frozen storage as the leading segment for cold storage business. Besides the food products, pharmaceutical & biotechnological products are also preserved in frozen storage for sensitive products like drugs, vaccines & biological samples. Moreover, as the globalization of trade has grown industries seek to sell items over long distances and still maintain the quality of the product through freezing. There is always a huge demand for such products and frozen storage solutions are vital in providing this form of storage as it also helps transport seasonal or location specific products across the globe.

• Under the following four years, the Şerban Holding Group intends to allocate 62.5 million euros to two projects, with support from the Agency for Rural Investment Financing (AFIR). These endeavors center on the storage and processing of potatoes, promoting a smooth transition between the production, processing, and industrialization of goods from their own harvest and other sources.

Application Segment Analysis

The application segment is divided into food and beverages, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, bakery and confectionary, pharmaceuticals, and others. The food and beverages segment dominated the market, with a market share of around 35% in 2023. The prime reason contributing to the industry’s dominance in the market is the relationship between optimal temperature control and the shelf life, integrity and safety of the perishable goods found in the food and beverages market. With the heightened demand for fresh quality and healthy products the issue of cold storage has become extremely important as consumers demand quality food. The food and beverages sector deals with fruits & vegetables, dairy products, meat, fish & sea foods and processed foods which are sensitive to temperature and moisture fluctuations and can lead to spoilage, contamination, and loss of nutritional value in the absence of cold storage facilities. For instance, proper storage conditions of fresh produce greatly improving its shelf life and consequently reduces losses, a feat that would strongly cut costs as well as the negative impacts on the environment. Further expansion and standardization of cold storage have been initiated by increase in e-commerce and online grocery store. This has promoted development of improved cold storage systems with necessary technology for tracking and monitoring temperatures apart from meeting legal requirements on food storage. Additionally, convenience foods like ready to eat products also require more cold storage.

• In Bamani, Patamda block, Jugsalai MLA Mangal Kalindi opened a 5000 MT cold storage facility. Hope and Health Care Private Limited, Hazaribagh, will run the facility, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 10 crore by the Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Cooperative Department. Farmers may guarantee higher market prices during the busiest times of the year by storing a wide range of produce, such as fruits, potatoes, tomatoes, and coriander. Speaking to the assembly, Kalindi underlined that the local farmers benefited from this cold storage, which met a long-standing demand in Patamda.

Some of the Key Market Players:

• Wared Logistics
• Wabash National Corporation
• United States Cold Storage
• Swire Group
• RSA Logistics
• Preferred Freezer
• Oxford Logistics Group
• Oceana Group Limited
• Nordic Logistics
• LINEAGE LOGISTICS HOLDING, LLC
• Henningsen Cold Storage Company
• Gulf Drug LLC

Report Description: