Cold Chain Global Market Report 2021: COVID-19 Growth and Change

Executive Summary

Major players in the cold chain market are Agro Merchants Group LLC, Americold Logistics, Lineage Logistics LLC, Nichirei Corporation, Burris Logistics Inc., Kloosterboer Group B.V., Henningsen Cold Storage, VersaCold Logistics, Cold Chain Technologies Inc., Hanson Logistics, Trenton Cold Storage, United States Cold Storage, Tippmann Group, Swire Cold Storage Ltd, and Nova Cold Logistics.

The global cold chain market is expected to grow from $212.24 billion in 2020 to $239.67 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.93%. The growth is mainly due to the increased demand for cold chain logistics from the processed food sector and the pharmaceutical sector. The market is expected to reach $344.51 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 9.49%.

The cold chain market consists of sales of cold chain and related services by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that provides cold chain storage services. These services are used for the management and transportation of temperature-sensitive products through refrigeration, thermal packaging, and other methods. This plays a crucial role in temperature control for the perishable goods and assures the quality and health of the perishable goods to the final consumer across the distribution chain.

The main types of cold chains are refrigerated warehousing and refrigerated transport. Refrigerated warehousing or cold storage is a place where temperature-controlled goods are cooled or stored to prevent it from decaying or not adhering to laws and regulations that apply to that item. Refrigerated transport or reefer freight is the vehicle transporting of products using a built-in refrigeration system that helps maintain a desired temperature throughout the transportation process. The various temperatures used in cold chain include frozen and chilled. Cold chain storage used in different sectors such as pharmaceutical, healthcare, food & beverages, chemical, others.

North America was the largest region in the cold chain market in 2020. Asia Pacific region is projected to record fastest growth over the forecast period. The regions covered in this report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.

The high operational costs for cold chain could act as a restraint for the market in the forecast period. The operating costs include energy costs for electricity, real-estate costs, labor costs and others. For instance, according to Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) Cold Chain Index 2020, labor accounted for the largest share of expenses, at 46% in the North American refrigerated warehouse market. The high operational costs could hamper R&D expenditure by companies, thus impacting the cold chain market in the forecast period.

In November 2019, US based temperature-controlled food distribution services provider, Americold realty trust, acquired Nova Cold Logistics for CAD $337 million (USD 278 million). The acquisition will help in extending the company position in Canada. Canada is a developing market with fragmented control of cold storage facilities. Nova Cold Logistics is a Canadian-based company that offers modern cold storage facilities and superior customer care.

Growing consumer demand for perishable foods contributed to the growth of the cold chain market in the historic period. The demand for perishable foods such as dairy products, fruits, vegetables, and meat is growing with the increasing urban population and changes in eating habits of the populace. Consumers are shifting towards to the purchase of perishable goods that have a long time until expiration owing to the nature of perishability. Developing markets in the Asia Pacific and Latin America are observing high demand for perishable food products. According to National Centre for Cold-chain Development, India has added about a million tons of cold storage capacity over the last three years and reached a total of 36.7 million tons in 2019. This can be connected to urbanization, changing tastes and decisions, and the rising disposable income of consumers in these countries. Thus, growing consumer demand for perishable foods supported the cold chain market.

Major companies operating in the cold chain market are continuously investing in automation solutions to survive in the competitive business environment. For instance, in January 2020, Kloosterboer, a Netherlands-based company engaged in providing innovative and sustainable solutions in the supply chain for temperature-controlled food products, invested in an automated and extremely sustainable reefer container terminal in its place in the port of Vlissingen. It was connected with 1020-reefer plugs and under the name of Kloosterboer container terminal Vlissingen. The container terminal was expected to be operational by mid-2020. The expectation is to process 250,000 TEU annually and was the first container terminal to use automatic cranes. In another instance, in 2020, US based cold chain provider FreezPak Logistics announced its plan to build a 140,000sq ft facility in New Jersey which will be equipped with an automated storage and retrieval system, using 12 robots to store and retrieve products. The new facility aims at speeding up the distribution process and cutting lead times for customers.

The countries covered in the cold chain market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, and USA.

Companies Mentioned

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes:

• Agro Merchants Group LLC
• Americold Logistics
• Lineage Logistics LLC
• Nichirei Corporation
• Burris Logistics Inc.
• Kloosterboer Group B.V.
• Henningsen Cold Storage
• VersaCold Logistics
• Cold Chain Technologies Inc.
• Hanson Logistics
• Trenton Cold Storage
• United States Cold Storage
• Tippmann Group
• Swire Cold Storage Ltd
• Nova Cold Logistics

Methodology