Cold Chain Market Size & Share Analysis - Emerging Trends, Growth Opportunities, Competitive Landscape, and Forecasts (2025 - 2032)

Cold Chain Market Growth Factors

Growing Usage of RFID Technology Is Major Trend in Market

• From USD 2,166.5 million in 2023, the global spending on cold chain RFID solutions is set to rise to USD 6,119.8 million by 2030.
• The RFID technology is widely used in supply chain management and logistics.
• In order to trace the product's origin and stop contamination or manipulation within the supply chain, sensor-based RFID technology is increasingly being integrated into product packaging.
• The principal applications of this technology are in transportation and logistics. Through the whole supply chain, it is changing the game for many businesses, by greatly enhancing product traceability and automating administrative procedures.
• All of this is helping guarantee accurate data, lower labor costs, raise visibility, and establish high standards of responsibility across all phases.

Increasing Demand for Frozen Perishable Commodities Fuels Industry Growth

• The consumption of ready to eat products, beverages and frozen food has increased considerably in emerging countries, over the past few years.
• The growth in disposable income, along with the increasing impact of western lifestyle has fueled the acceptance of such products, among the large middle-class consumers of developing countries, which in turn has fueled the growth of the cold chain market in the recent years.
• The changed food consumption trend is being supported by the rapid expansion of supermarket, hypermarket, and food and restaurant chains around the world.
• The increased number of such stores has led to increased requirement of cold storage and refrigerated transportation of perishable products.
• In the coming years, the participation of women in the Asia-Pacific labor market is expected to increase. This would result in considerable demand of frozen food and ready-to-eat foods in the region, which is expected to increase the consumption of frozen and ready to eat products. This in turn is expected to drive the growth of the cold chain market in the region.
• The increasing women employment across the world, sudden impact of the pandemic, and increasingly hectic life, coupled with the work-from-home culture, are shifting the consumption patterns and consumers’ perception of frozen foods.
• As frozen foods last longer, consumers prefer them when crop productivity is affected by weather.
• As a result, F&B firms strive to keep processed and packaged foods, especially items that are frozen, at affordable prices to consumers.
• Freezing makes it possible for food to move to the supermarket from the farmer’s market, by improving accessibility and affordability and preventing it from going bad.
• The growth of the foodservice sector, which includes quick-service restaurants, fast-food chains, and hypermarkets, drives the consumption of frozen foods.
• With this, the total capacity of reefer containers procured by logistics companied worldwide will increase from 4,306,000 TEU in 2024 to 7,142,800 TEU by 2030.
• Temperature-controlled storage equipment plays a vital role in many industries by ensuring product quality and increasing their shelf life.
• Storage equipment includes deep freezers, refrigerators, and vaccine carriers, which could be either on-grid or off-grid.
• The growing need to reduce post-harvest and post-processing food losses in underdeveloped nations is driving demand for off-grid storage systems.
• According to the FAO, more than 40% of the food is lost after harvesting and processing, particularly in impoverished nations.
• This requires the establishment of long-term cold chains that are energy-efficient, which may raise the supply of food in these nations by about 15%, or over 250 million tonnes.
• Food quality is crucially preserved by refrigerated packaging, which helps limit the biological degradation of the items and ensures the food is safe and of a high quality for end customers.
• The need for products and solutions for packaging has also expanded as a result of the rising population's greater consumption of preserved foods and drinks.
• In addition, insulated containers and boxes accounted for a significant revenue share in the market owing to the increasing demand for reusable insulated containers across various applications, such as food, fruit, & vegetable processing.
• Further, the cold storage industry makes extensive use of temperature-controlled packaging (TCP), which is created in compliance with different specifications, to keep the items at precise temperatures over long periods.
• Refrigerator boxes and pallet shippers are examples of active TCP systems, which are powered by lithium-ion batteries and other grid-independent sources of electricity.
• On the contrary, passive systems, which depend on insulated packaging and refrigerants, are economical and useful.
• Most of the pharmaceutical companies are currently in favor of water-based phase-change materials (PCMs) and Styrofoam.

Third-Party Logistics Firms Offer Lucrative Opportunities to Market Players

• Compared to USD 1,096.0 billion in 2023, third-party logistics companies could make USD 1,870.4 billion by 2030. 3PL firms offer outsourced refrigerated logistics services to cold chain service providers and end users.
• The operation flexibility of 3PLs, such as customized based logistic services in remote locations, along with the benefits, such as economies of scale is driving the adoption of 3PL services in cold chain.
• The recent technological advancement in 3PL such as RFID for inventory record and real time tracking, GPS-enabled refrigerated trucks for tracking, along with advance management related information services has increased the 3PL penetration in cold chain during the recent years.
• Recently, companies such as Wipro and Wal-Mart have made the deployment of RFID and GPS mandatory for their logistics partners to deploy these services.
• Moreover, the 3PL service providers have also broadened their geographical presence in recent years, which has led to significant reduction in inventory and logistic cost.

Cold Chain Market Segmentation Analysis

Type Analysis

The storage category held the revenue share, of 55%, in 2024, and it is expected to retain its dominance over the next few years. This is attributed to the increasing consumer preference for packaged food around the world. Moreover, the demand for frozen meals is being driven by customers' shifting dietary habits and lifestyles. As a result, the increasing need for temperature-controlled storage solutions fuels the growth of the market.

The monitoring category will have the highest CAGR in the market, owing to the increasing need for monitoring solutions in the cold chain industry. This can be ascribed to the technological developments and the rising need for assurances about the reliability, effectiveness, and safety of shipments. Both the frontend hardware used for real-time shipping information collection and reporting and the backend IT infrastructure have undergone improvements.

These types have been analyzed:

• Storage (Largest Category)
• Transportation
• Monitoring (Fastest-Growing Category)

Application Analysis

Pharmaceuticals are the largest category in the market on account of the growing demand for vaccines, drugs in the form of tablets, capsules, and syrups, as well as blood & tissue products. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a massive rise in the trade volumes for vaccines, for which low temperatures are vital. As per the World Trade Organization, by May 31, 2022, over 15 billion doses of vaccines had been supplied within and outside countries. The OECD projects a huge 350% increase in the healthcare expenditure of EU countries by 2050. With the global increase in healthcare expenditure, the demand for cold chain solutions for pharmaceutical and medical products will increase.

Fish, meat, & poultry is the fastest-growing category, with a CAGR of 11%. Shipping meats across seas in the mid-19^th century was one of the first ever uses of reefer ships. The FAO says that global consumption of seafood rose to 20.7 kg in 2022 from 9.1 kg in 1961. The organization had further forecast worldwide meat consumption to increase by 1.7% from 2023 to 373 million tonnes of carcass weight equivalents in 2024. Further, the global trade of meat products was forecast to rise by 3.2% from 2023, reaching 41.9 million tonnes in 2024. Similarly,

For such products, it is recommended that they are not kept without refrigeration for more than 2 hours, which makes cold chain solutions vital for long-distance transportation and long-duration storage.

These applications have been analyzed:

• Fruits & Vegetables
• Dairy Products
• Fish, Meat, & Seafood (Fastest-Growing Category)
• Processed Food
• Pharmaceuticals (Largest Category)
• Bakery & Confectionery
• Others

Cold Chain Market Regional Outlook

North America dominated the industry with a share of 40% in 2024, and it will maintain that position over the forecast period, as it offers enormous growth potential for enterprises willing to spend for the long term. Moreover, a wide customer base and the rising adoption of connected devices are likely to drive the market growth in the coming years. Due to the limited domestic production, the import of bovine meat into the U.S. continues to increase, primarily from Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico.

Asia-Pacific is projected to witness the highest CAGR, of 11.5%, owing to the increasing government investments for the development of logistics infrastructure and the rising adoption of warehouse management systems. As per the FAO, global production of milk would have reached 981 million tonnes, rising by 1.5% from 2023, mainly led by Asia, including India, Pakistan, and China. Similarly, for future, a strong rise in the production of seafood is expected in China, Vietnam, and India.

China and India are also the two largest producers of fruits and vegetables in the world, which continues to drive the demand for cold chain solutions. These two countries also hold a significant position in global pharmaceutical production and exports.

China leads the market in the region owing to the rise in the pace of technical developments in the equipment used to package, process, and store seafood items. Furthermore, the rapid infrastructure development has elevated China to the position of the leader of the industry. China is currently transitioning from an economy driven by manufacturing and construction to one centered on consumers. The rapid rate of innovation in China's pharmaceutical sector is also likely to increase demand for cold storage solutions in the region.

These regions and countries have been analyzed:

• North America (Largest Regional Market)
  • U.S. (Larger Country Market)
  • Canada (Faster-Growing Country Market)
• Europe
  • Germany (Largest Country Market)
  • France
  • U.K.
  • Italy
  • Spain (Fastest-Growing Country Market)
  • Rest of Europe
• Asia-Pacific (APAC) (Fastest-Growing Regional Market)
  • China
  • Japan (Largest Country Market)
  • South Korea
  • India (Fastest-Growing Country Market)
  • Australia
  • Rest of APAC
• Latin America (LATAM)
  • Brazil (Largest and Fastest-Growing Country Market)
  • Mexico
  • Rest of LATAM
• Middle East and Africa (MEA)
  • Saudi Arabia (Largest Country Market)
  • South Africa
  • U.A.E. (Fastest-Growing Country Market)
  • Rest of MEA

Cold Chain Market Competitive Landscape

• The market is severely fragmented as a large number of companies offer cold chain services, equipment, and monitoring software.
• There are a variety of ways to transport products under low temperatures: insulated packaging, phase-change materials, and reefer containers.
• Additionally, the different modes of transport, viz., road, rail, air, and sea, further fragment the market as almost no company sends products by all the four modes.
• While there are a few major shipping lines and cargo airlines shipping temperature-sensitive products, there is no real consolidation in rail and road transportation.
• The arrival of 3PL firms further fragments the market as major logistics companies look to outsource the actual transportation activities, to save on operational expenses.

Cold Chain Market News & Updates

• In January 2025, RealCold announced that it will deploy the warehouse management system of Blue Yonder to enhance and expand its cold chain operations.
• In January 2025, Indian cold chain startup secured series B funding of INR 125 Crore from Omnivore and other investors. The investment will be used to implement Transportation management system and warehouse management system.
• In January 2025, Walmart Inc. entered into collaborations with three Indian startups—GreenPod Labs, KBCols Sciences, and Cropin—to improve its sourcing and supply chain operations in the U.S.
• In November 2024, SAP SE announced that its SAP BTP has been selected by Fusion Consulting to develop a cold chain management solution.