Cold Chain Global Market Opportunities And Strategies To 2031

The global cold chain market reached a value of nearly $274,880.5 million in 2021, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.5% since 2016. The market is expected to grow from $274,880.5 million in 2021 to $498,822.4 million in 2026 at a rate of 12.7%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.8% from 2026 and reach $910,741.9 million in 2031.

Growth in the historic period resulted from strong economic growth in emerging markets, growth in world population, increase in food export and increasing demand from end-use industries.

Going forward, global population growth and urbanization, rapid growth in ecommerce, increasing consumption of packaged food, food security initiatives and increasing demand from end-use industries will drive the growth. Factors that could hinder the growth of the cold chain market in the future include increasing warehousing costs, increasing fuel costs, skill shortages and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The cold chain market is segmented by type into refrigerated warehousing and refrigerated transport. The refrigerated warehousing market was the largest segment of the cold chain market segmented by type, accounting for 58.0% of the total in 2021. Going forward, the refrigerated transport market is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the cold chain market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 13.1% during 2021-2026.

The cold chain market is segmented by temperature type into frozen and chilled. The frozen market was the largest segment of the cold chain market segmented by temperature type, accounting for 55.9% of the total in 2021. Going forward, the chilled market is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the cold chain market segmented by temperature type, at a CAGR of 13.1% during 2021-2026.

The cold chain market is segmented by industry vertical into pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages, chemicals and other industry verticals. The food and beverages market was the largest segment of the cold chain market segmented by industry vertical, accounting for 69.1% of the total in 2021. Going forward, the pharmaceuticals and healthcare market is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the cold chain market segmented by industry vertical, at a CAGR of 13.0% during 2021-2026.

North America was the largest region in the cold chain market, accounting for 31.1% of the total in 2021. It was followed by Asia Pacific, and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the cold chain market will be Asia Pacific, and, Middle East where growth will be at CAGRs of 15.1% and 14.9% respectively. These will be followed by Africa, and, South America where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 14.1% and 13.5% respectively.

The cold chain market is highly concentrated with large number of small players. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 2.35% of the total market in 2021. The concentration in the market is due to the presence of local companies serving local geographies. Americold Logistics was the largest competitor with 0.68% share of the market, followed by Burris Logistics with 0.55%, Nichirei Corporation with 0.41%, United States Cold Storage with 0.25%, Lineage Logistics Holdings with 0.20%, VersaCold Logistics Services with 0.17%, Tippmann Group with 0.04%, Congebec Inc with 0.03%, Snowman Logistics Ltd with 0.01%, and Conestoga Cold Storage with 0.005%.

The top opportunities in the cold chain market segmented by type will arise in the refrigerated warehousing segment, which will gain $126,121.8 million of global annual sales by 2026. The top opportunities in segment by temperature type will arise in the frozen segment, which will gain $120,382.9 million of global annual sales by 2026. The top opportunities in segment by industry vertical will arise in the food and beverages segment, which will gain $154,702.2 million of global annual sales by 2026. The cold chain market size will gain the most in the USA at $54,970.0 million.

Market-trend-based strategies for the cold chain market include focusing on sustainability initiatives, focusing on quality and product sensitivity, leveraging internet of things (IoT), focusing on smart warehousing, outsourcing processes to third-party logistics and focusing on strategic investments.

Player-adopted strategies in the cold chain market include expanding business operations, expanding food service distribution network through strategic acquisitions, improving extensive logistics and cold storage services and providing additional supply-chain reliability.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the publisher recommends the cold chain companies to increase focus on quality and product sensitivity, adopt internet-of-things (IoT), focus on smart warehousing, outsource more processes to third-party logistics providers, expand in emerging economies, offer competitive prices, continue to use B2B promotions and focus on fast-growing end-use industries.

This report describes and explains the cold chain market and covers 2016-2021, termed the historic period, and 2021-2026 termed the forecast period, along with further forecasts for the period 2026-2031. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.