According to a study released this month by Grand View Research, it is anticipated that the cold chain market will more than double globally over the next six years and be worth $447.50 billion, a massive increase from the 2018 market size of $167.99 billion.
Cold chain refers to the supply chain for temperature-sensitive products. This supply chain includes services, logistics and associated equipment that ensure the temperature-controlled transportation and storage of perishable products to their final destination. According to Grand View, the compound annual growth rate of the cold chain market is expected to be as high as 15.1 percent during the six-year period from 2019 to 2025. This growth is estimated from an analysis of advancements of technology in packaging, processing and storage of food.
Anticipated Innovation
Due to the anticipated innovation of autonomous trucks, North America is expected to lead in cold chain market revenue gains. Increased demand should also come from emerging economies building organized retail stores in greater numbers. A rising popularity of online food purchases and home delivery has led to a significant increase in opportunities and challenges in cold storage, including the need for last-mile delivery solutions and more cold storage warehouses to hold the inventory.
The cold chain market is comprised of three categories: storage, transportation and monitoring components. Growth in cold storage is credited to higher demand for prepackaged food across the world. Also, fluctuations in dietary patterns and healthy lifestyles of the consumers has increased the demand for fresh and frozen food. This is expected to spur the demand for more storage solutions in the next few years.
Both the trucks and warehouses used to transport and store cold products have already started to see gains in efficiency from the adoption of integrated hardware and software monitoring components. The ongoing development of this technology is an important part of gains anticipated in the cold chain market — and the monitoring components themselves are now as important to the market as storage and transportation.
Photo credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture
