India's Best of 5 Cold Storage Companies

India’s Best of

5

COLD STORAGE Companies

2021 Vol. 02 Issue 02 Cold Storage Insights Dynamics of Indian Cold Storage Sector Storage Industry Oversight Global Cold Storage Industry Scenario

Capt. Anand Aryamane CEO

KOOL SOLUTIONS A Benchmark of Exceptional Quality and Profound Expertise

Editor’s Note K

eeping perishable goods in the right temperatures is crucial for them to remain fresh till they reach the end user. Here comes the need for cold storage industries that store perishable items in their real forms.

Cold storage industries have made lives easy for both the farmers, and consumers and the health fraternity as well.

COLD STORAGE : BEYOND TIME AND DISTANCE

In fact, humans have always experimented with cold storage with the available resources to keep food fresh during the warmer days. Its history is quite interesting and dates to around 3700 years when harvested ice from the winter months was used to provide cold storage to foods during the warmer months of the year. In fact, the first recorded icehouse was built in Syria.

Gradually, electric refrigeration surfaced and with time inventions in refrigeration began to replace the previous ones. And in no time, it was possible to store food, drinks, meat, fish, and many other perishable items for future use. Medicines also found a means to be stored. Before one could bat an eyelid, transportation of such items became possible to different parts of a country and they were also shipped to different parts of the world!

Cold storage has indeed changed the way world

Darshan Parmar Managing Editor

darshan@insightssuccess.com

functions now. It has become an integral part of our lives. With each passing day, its need is becoming more pronounced. Cold storages have broken all the shackles of time and distance. There is nothing in the world that people in one corner of the globe cannot have form the other corner. From ice-harvesting to energy saving and cost-effective cold storages, mankind has come a long way in the cold storage sector.

Scientists in every country, including India, are researching on further developing the cold storage and warehouse industries with use of hi-tech while also focusing on sustainable development.

The government of India recently decided to geotag warehouses, cold storages, and refrigerated vans to keep a track of the real time location and space availability.

Post-Covid-19, the cold storage industries are expected to grow even more as part of the new normal and if the farm laws that propose to corporatize agriculture succeed the demand for cold storages will further go up. As it is the cold storages have pepped up their services ever since the advent of Covid-19 vaccine.

Realising the importance of cold storage industries

and gauging the rising demands for these in the future, we at Insights Success, handpicked some of the cold storage companies that are consistently providing quality service and have plans to strengthen their services in future.

Flip through this interesting edition titled, ‘India’s Best of 5 Cold Storage Companies,’ and do not forget to also read the articles curated by our inhouse editorial team.

Happy reading!

DarsHP

KOOL SOLUTIONS A Benchmark of Exceptional Quality and Profound Expertise

Articles

18

Cover Story

Industry Insights Global Cold Storage Industry Scenario

30

10

Cold Storage in India Industry Scenario of Indian Cold Storage Space

22 Gubba Cold Storage Unprecedented Quality for Preserving Perishables

26 IG International Pvt Ltd The Trusted Fresh Produce Provider

34 Supreme Fresh Offering Unparalleled Cold Storage Solutions with Quality and Integrity

C O N T E N T S

Editor-in-Chief Sumita Sarkar Managing Editor Darshan Parmar

sales@insightssuccess.com

Assisting Editor Aditya Umale

FEBRUARY, 2021

Contributing Writer Sharad Chitalkar

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INDIA'S

5 BEST OF

Cold

Storage

COMPANIES

Company Name

Management

Brief

Blue Star

B Thaigarajan Managing Director

Blue Star is India's leading air conditioning and commercial refrigeration company.

Gubba Cold Storage

Kiran Gubba CEO and Director

Gubba Cold Storage is a futuristic company with innovation in preserving perishables with more than 33 years of expertise in technical knowledge, upgrading with each essential requirement.

IG International Pvt. Ltd. (IGPL)

Tarun Arora Director

IG International is one of the largest importers of fresh fruit in India for the last fifty years.

Kool Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.

Capt. Anand Aryamane CEO

Kool Solutions' cutting edge Warehouse Management System ensures accurate inventory management and error-free operations.

Supreme Fresh

Yaseen Balwa Co-founder

Supreme Fresh is primarily a storage solutions provider for import and export of fresh fruits, vegetables, dates, spices, and dry fruits, etc.

Capt. Anand Aryamane CEO

S T O R Y

A Benchmark of Exceptional Quality and Profound Expertise

C O V E R

KOOL SOLUTIONS

A

ccording to a credible research report, it is estimated that an investment of approx. ₹ 16,000-21,000 crore is set to be poured in into the cold storage sector between 2019 and 2023 with the intent to optimise the post-harvest value chain and to serve the food processing industry.

The demand for cold storage solutions skyrocketed pertaining to the evolution of our lifestyles and heightened

demand for processed and packaged food. Cold storage solution providers across the globe are now channelling their expertise towards catering to this ever-increasing demand.

One prominent name among those companies is Kool Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.

are and will continue to demand an asset which protects their brand by ensuring cargo protection.

Kool Solutions was conceived from a joint venture between Samsara Capital and Spire Group. The two companies perceived India as an emerging market for a state-of-the-art and fully compliant cold store facility.

At present, the company has a 10,600 pallet position state-of-the-art, fully operational asset in Taloja near Mumbai. It has also installed one of the most advanced warehouse management systems (WMS) software that provides access to its customers to view in real time all history and pending transactions for their inventory in the facility. Additionally, twenty-five percent of the electricity is provided by a rooftop solar system

Kool Solutions comprehends that emerging India has high emphasis on compliance of rules and regulations in construction industry. The company also sees that as Indian customers become more global in nature, they

that allows the company to enhance its green footprint.

Pertaining to these aspects, Kool Solutions has gained a strong reputation among its clientele. Commenting on the same, Capt. Anand Aryamane, the CEO says, “We have seen very encouraging response from customers, and we are excited to build more such assets and create a network across all metros in India. We also have a very credible investor group which are well poised to move forward with our expansion plans.”

Offering only the best Kool’s warehousing solutions cover the complete spectrum of frozen, chilled and blast freezing capabilities with temperatures ranging from -25°C to +20°C. The product segments Kool caters to are dairy, ice-cream, poultry and meat, seafood, fruits and vegetables, confectionaries, pulp, and concentrates, QSRs, ready-toeat/ready-to-cook food products, healthcare and pharmaceutical products, industrial products, etc.

Kool Solutions have a blast freezing system known as QFR (Quick Freezing Racking) which is the most advanced and is the first of its kind in India, capable of blasting 90MT a day. The QFR system of blast freezing is a new technology that uses in-room refrigeration equipment to freeze the product more uniformly and faster than the existing traditional blast freezing methods.

Kool Solutions also offers primary and secondary transportation to customers through its channel partners and assists in managing the distribution network from factory to end customer. The company is a 100% compliant cold store with all rules and regulations related to building codes and safety norms which in turn has a far-reaching effect on insurability of valuable products that are stored.

The company is British Retail Consortium (BRC) Certified (Grade A), Understanding Responsible Sourcing Audit (URSA) Certified and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approved cold store operator. The facility is also supported

by Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI). This makes Kool a premier cold store operator in the market.

Kool Solutions also brings similar standards of compliance as in USA and Western world. “In the current landscape, it is extremely critical for cold storage operators to monitor available inventory in their value chains.

Providing visibility across the supply chain provides customers with a better transparency - this is what Kool Solutions has

delivered since the inception,” says Capt. Aryamane.

Kool Solutions’ cutting edge Warehouse Management System ensures accurate inventory management and error-free operations.

It offers a barcode-based inventory system with on-line customer access to the inventory and stock management at all the times.

The company also operates an off-site redundant backup system in Toronto, Canada which is capable of storing two years of data on every product handled and stored at its warehouse in Taloja.

This allows the retrieval of any data for a particular product in case of product recall through its advanced WMS system.

Overcoming adversities Talking about the potential challenges in the cold storage business, Capt. Aryamane says, “Managing a food supply chain has inherent challenges that require all players in the supply chain to adhere to stringent operational practices in order to ensure the

product is safe for consumption once it reaches the end consumer.”

Following are the major challenges of cold chain structure as per Capt.

Aryamane: • High capital and operating expenditure: Maintaining the required controlled conditions in terms of temperature, humidity, air flow etc. necessitates investment in appropriate refrigeration and insulation equipment which makes the cold chain business capital intensive. Continuous operation of the cold store / refrigeration unit to avoid thermal shock also leads to high power consumption making profitability sensitive to power costs. As most of compressor units, reach trucks are imported, the capex is high resulting in high operating cost.

• Demand seasonality: especially in the case of fruit and vegetables, dairy & seafood, makes the cold chain business susceptible to seasonal variations. However, catering to commodities with complementary seasonality helps avoid fluctuation in utilizations.

• Uneven Distribution: Available capacity is mostly focused on single

Providing visibility across the supply chain provides customers with a better transparency this is what Kool Solutions has delivered since the inception.

commodities. Problem of financial viability is also their due to seasonality.

• Technical nature: Provision of quality and reliable cold chain services necessarily requires an understanding of the specific requirements of perishables.

• Human Capital and Domain Skills: It requires skilled human resources for operating and controlling the cold storage facilities. The training needs high quality and at regular intervals.

• Last mile distribution: It is here that temperature-sensitive materials are at their most vulnerable point.

This requires the formation of a comprehensive logistical process that preserves a shipment’s integrity from product preparation to the final verification of a shipment’s integrity at the delivery point.

Commenting upon the challenges levied by the COVID-19 pandemic, Capt. Aryamane says, “When the news

about the pandemic took a centre stage, Kool Solutions swung into action immediately.”

Since February 2020, Kool Solutions has proactively followed procedures and guidelines set by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), with intention of caring for its staff and community as well as its customers’ products.

As notified by the Government of India, cold storage warehousing and transportation came under essential services and hence during the lockdown, Kool Solutions stayed open to ensure the flow of fresh and frozen foods to convenience stores, supermarkets, and grocery stores.

Hence, the pandemic did not affect the company much. “However, it did affect our customer’s business which resulted in steady levels of inventory and lesser imports in the first quarter,” says Capt.

Aryamane.

all our customers and as we see the growth coming in the market, Kool Solutions too will reap benefits through our existing customers and also by adding new customers. We have actually added many new customers during the pandemic times, thanks to our unparalleled services given to the industry,” asserts Capt. Aryamane.

Discovering new horizons With the Taloja facility now fully functional and with phenomenal responses from customers, Kool Solutions has set foot in one of the most important markets in India, i.e., Mumbai, Maharashtra.

With this asset the company has also established all the standard operating procedures and trained staff available for its expansion. The company will continue to create quality assets across all Tier I and Tier II cities in India, offering best-in-class solutions and brand protection to customers. “This growth will be a combination of an organic and inorganic approach.

Acquisition of cold stores are very much a strategy Kool Solutions has.

Needless to mention, such assets will then be brought to our standards with an injection of capital and expertise,” concludes Capt. Aryamane.

URL: https://koolsolutionsindia.com/

He also states that India is slowly opening up and the demand side will pick up soon once the retail markets, malls and restaurants operate fully with free movement of people.

Compared to the first two quarters, Kool Solutions is witnessing good inflow of exports and retail products.

With early and proper procedures in place towards protection of its staff, the company ensured uninterrupted services to customers ensuring their commitment is fulfilled to the marketplace even in pandemic times.

“This has been appreciated highly by

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INDUSTRY SCENARIO OF INDIAN

COLD

STORAGE SPACE

18 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS

VOLUME - 02, ISSUE - 02, 2021

Cold Storage in India

F

acts on the Go!

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

India is currently the world’s largest producer of milk, and the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables.

India produces a substantial part of the world’s marine, meat and poultry products.

India is the largest producer of generic medicines including those that need refrigeration and controlled environments.

India will soon have the largest pool of under 35years aged individual with the right disposable income to spend on processed fruits and vegetables, milk and other perishables.

India’s cold storage and cold chain market value for the year 2020 was close to INR 1400 billion with a CAGR of 19% till 2026.

large parts of India (which was about two decades back), the cold-storage system that was being used did not actively use a refrigeration system and relied on buildings with plenty of air circulation that could help reduce the process of degeneration of the produce. Onions and potatoes were essentially used to be stored in this form for a short while before it was graded and sent ahead for sorting and packing in gunny bags. Large fans and shades were essential for this system which is still used in rural heartlands to store produce for a short while and are essentially near farms and fields. Ÿ

Cold storage with the basics for sorting and packing Fruits and vegetables which decompose quickly need cold storages with a dedicated system of ventilation and refrigeration that can prolong the life of the produce. Typically, these have multiple racks and bins for varied types of produce to be stored either together or in proximity which help store more and use the cold storage more efficiently. Within the same complex, there may be areas segregated for fruits, vegetables, meats, and milk produce, and even for processed items like processed milk, ice-creams.

Typically, more the variety that the cold-storage handles, more is the cost of upkeep and maintenance given that each refrigeration unit has its own cost. In most such facilities, the temperature is maintained well below freezing to keep the produce from decomposing.

Ÿ

Cold chains and logistics Tied closely to the concept of cold-storage are coldchains and reefer vehicles. A produce once frozen in a cold storage needs to be kept at a particular temperature till it reaches its intended end consumer.

Most produce stored in cold storages must be transported and kept in smaller stores which call for a completely different level of specialization, which thankfully in the Indian context is growing enormously. Reefer trucks and reefer boxes in exports have always been around. The novelty today is that these are needed to move, and supply produce within the country.

Why is cold storage required?

In the present, despite the best efforts, India wastes close to 10% of its produce every year which if stored and processed the right way, could turn an otherwise waste into an income. Besides the monetary angle, cold storage systems being complicated systems, could bring about much-needed employment and a source of earning to a sizable number of India’s educated unemployed or underemployed. These days there is another angle. Coldstorage and refrigeration systems were long known for the adverse effects they had on the environment given that some of the gases and refrigerants used therein were things that adversely affected the environment. Having the right ones are thus a necessity.

These besides, the fact remains that India’s capacity to produce perishables itself is seeing a serious upsurge be it in agriculture, poultry, milk, or meats. That, and a healthy increase in disposable income translate into a huge market for processed foods, the beginning and end of which in most cases include a cold storage system to store raw materials, final produce, or both.

Types of cold storage Ÿ

Cold storage in its most basic form Right till the time that electricity became stable in

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INSIGHTS SUCCESS | 19

India in the present context presents a very positive picture for the cold-storage space. The reasons among others include: 1. Farmers and producers want more income from their produce for which they are ready to walk the extramile, be in in terms of storing and processing goods or even taking up the responsibility of starting and maintaining cold-storage plants.

2. Higher disposable income in urban and semi-urban areas which means people want to consume processed foods which typically need refrigeration. This is giving a boost to the Indian cold-storage industry. The foremost among processed foods is ice-creams, milkshakes and the likes, foods like cheese and milk itself. With dedicated refrigeration plants in place, meats both processed and unprocessed are finding their way into the chain.

3. Availability of technologies and service providers.

Global warming and the need to refrigerate fast while keeping costs down have brought better and more efficient technologies to Indian shores be it to do with refrigeration itself or to do with cold-storage plant construction technologies. With smaller sizes, coldstorage plants have started to proliferate in the remotest corners of the country. With them go the maintenance and replacement services which create their own set of employment.

4. Availability of land to set-up cold-storage facilities.

There was a time when land was difficult to procure in India, irrespective of its use. This was so for various reasons, including the lack of large parcels of land, unclear land titles and so on. With cold-storage turning into a viable industry, it’s the farmer who is turning into cold-storage provider which is an interesting turn. With very small parcels of land which make farming unviable, increasingly the trend is to use it for other services including storage and cold storing.

5. Better travel and transport infrastructure. For the size of India, it had till a decade back the worst roads in this part of the world which hampered the movement of vehicles, more so with reefer facilities on them. Time

20 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS

sensitive cargo, despite an onboard reefer system was difficult to handle in the light of uncertainty in ETA and ETDs. With better roads and now better rails, this is one issue that has been taken care of in everyone’s interest.

While the Indian cold-storage space does look very enticing and rightfully so, there are a few things that may need urgent attention from the right quarters, be it the government, the producers, or the logistics operators themselves: 1. Lack of stable electricity supply Despite India becoming a power-surplus country in most parts, there are still those parts where stable electricity is a problem either generally or at specific times of the year/ day. These necessitate the use of generator sets which increase the cost of operations substantially.

Instability of power supply means one cannot give a guarantee of the produce’s quality- a big sour point.

2. Lack of trained manpower and service back-ups Despite the sector being substantially big, the number of players dealing in niche technologies can be counted on one’s fingertips. Better the technology lesser the people.

What is immediately called for is to train substantial numbers who can go forth and install more cold-storage and chilling plants in the remotest part of India so that food-related industries are set up even the remotest corner of India and people need not come to cities.

3. Availability of water Chilling and cold units need substantial quantities of clean water, first to clean the produce before storage, then again to cause the actual chill and then again to help in thawing. Cold storage plants also need substantial quantities of water for cleaning and maintenance.

Without the presence of clean water in substantial quantities, a cold storage unit might as well be a dream.

4. Availability of land at the right location India has land. India also has a large, large population which means getting large parcels of land to set up coldstorage plants, especially in urban centres is an issue.

Without land and that too one’s own or on long lease, even the thought of setting up a cold-storage plant can be criminal.

VOLUME - 02, ISSUE - 02, 2021

Gubba Cold Storage Unprecedented Quality for Preserving Perishables

W

hen it comes to preserving perishables, one must tread with utmost caution in choosing the right cold storage facility. Even a little compromise in the quality could result in losing a significant chunk of consumers/clients forever.

Gubba Cold Storage is one of the companies where you could rest assured with your perishables. Not the one to compromise on quality and the one that sticks to its commitment to clients, Gubba has been leading the roost since 1987.

Gubba Kiran CEO

Gubba Cold Storage is a futuristic company with innovation in preserving perishables with 33+ years of expertise in technical knowledge, upgrading with every essential need. It started with the first cold storage in 1987 and today is one of India’s largest players with 1.25 cr CFT preservation capacity and 18 cold storage plants in Hyderabad and Aurangabad.

The vision comes to reality as 600+ clients bestow their trust on the company and the clients are at peace owing to a host of valueadded services which Gubba Cold Storage provides like transaction automated reports, access to temperature and humidity in the cold room online, temperature mapping, thermal tracking, stock auditing reports, etc. Gubba also has its exclusive Rodent and Pest Control Officer that rule out any chances of infestation as food products are preserved here. Gubba is an ISO, HACCP, and NABL certified company and operates on international safety standards.

Gubba is recognized as “India’s largest Cold Storage” in the Limca Book of Record 2014 and it also got recognition from other

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India's Best of 5 Cold Storage Companies

prestigious institutions like • “Emerson Cup” for Best Refrigeration Design • “Hans India Award” as the best Cold Storage • Finalists at India Mart Leaders of Tomorrow for two consecutive years • “Danfoss ICE Award” for the year 2013 The Motivation Behind the Venture

Products and Services Gubba Group serves the pharma industry by preserving API, bulk drugs, vaccines, etc.; seed industry by preserving commercial, parent, foundation seeds and food industry by preserving butter, spices, fruits, vegetables, ice-creams, frozen food, juices etc. Gubba operates by functioning the various cold storages which are 18 in number, one in Aurangabad, 17 in Telangana. The company has also VOLUME - 02, ISSUE - 02, 2021

“

WE WORKED INCESSANTLY ALL THROUGHOUT ENSURING OUR TEAMS HEALTH AS THE UTMOST PRIORITY. INITIALLY WE HAD THE POLITICIANS, POLICE, LOCALS OPPOSING US

“

Gubba Nagender Rao, Founder and Managing Director of ‘Gubba Cold Storage’ started the first cold storage of Andhra Pradesh. Gubba Kiran is the CEO of the company. His vision was to address the agricultural wastage by preserving them for long term use and retaining the business value of those products. He is the guiding force in the expansion of the company and a philanthropist who exhibits his responsibility towards the society by contributing to the education of girl child. Gubba has achieved the following milestones: • First private Cold Store in 1987 • India’s First Commercial Seed Dehumidified Cold Store in 1998 • India’s First World Class 1.5 Ton Jumbo Bag Seed Cold Storage in 2008 • India’s First 2 Ton Jumbo Bag Multilevel Block Stacking Cold Storage in 2012 • India’s First private sector germplasm bank, seed preserved for 40 years • First Pharma compliant GDP approved cold storage facility in South India.

• World class storage facility for pharma industry with 8800 pallets.

• WHO GDP / NABL / C-TPAT certification • A world class biotech lab to serve Seed Industry with most advanced technologies understanding the quality and purity of its seed made possible with minimal time and maximum accuracy using genetics • Being proactive and ready for Covid vaccine preservation even before the vaccine arrived • Gubba seed lab provides high class seed testing, preservation and security standards.

diversified its expertise into Gubba Seed Lab where they test the quality of seeds from worldwide by performing various high standard tests. Gubba Biotech lab is another vertical of the Gubba Group where they perform high class tests like ELISA, MGOT, Zygocity etc.

Gubba Cold Infra deals with consultation and construction of cold storages having successfully completed 15+ projects all over India and one in Myanmar.

The USP The company provides its clients with leading edge technology and is skilled with latest advancements. Gubba Cold Storage is a step ahead in competency as it provides its clients with automated reports, Enterprise Resources Planning, an inbuilt app gives Gubbas clients the accessibility to check the temperature of their product preservation just by a click on their smartphone. Along with the above, authenticity, reliability, quality of service, international certifications, and trust that Gubba has built worldwide is the USP of the company.

The Challenges Cold storage sector is a rising industry and like any other industry it is going through growth challenges. “Power poses us highest running cost challenges apart from issues like product traceability, rising lease costs, etc.

INSIGHTS SUCCESS | 23

• Expertise in research and development • Construction of cold storage and designing of temperature zones as per the products chosen to preserve • Strategic location being convenient to the consumers • Safety of man, material, infrastructure and compliances related to various products as per government norms • Ensuring uninterrupted power supply to maintain the desired temperature • One would need a decent financial history, repayment capability • Commitment oriented and a professional team Challenges During the Pandemic Gubba is majorly into preservation of seed, pharma and food which undoubtedly comes under the category of essentials. So, there was not a single day that Gubba’s operations were on hold. “We worked incessantly all throughout ensuring our teams health as the utmost priority. Initially we had the politicians, police, locals opposing us. We spent so many days in the police station to acquire the legal permissions. This phase tested Gubba’s team spirit and the team support was more than overwhelming!” said the management of the company.

Future Perspectives

“

UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER’S VISION AND SETTING FORTH CUSTOMER SATISFACTION HAS AND WILL ALWAYS CONTINUE TO BE OUR PRECEDENCE

Gubba sets sight on being the figurehead by providing world class facility in preservation of what makes and more importantly sustains life – seed and pharma by hiking the standard of innovation and technology to a whole new level. “Understanding customer’s vision and setting forth customer satisfaction has and will always continue to be our precedence. We look forward to enter into the US and Singapore markets as well to serve their pharma and seed industries and establish a biotechnology lab in South Asia (apart from India) with trust and passion in preservation, being one of the most reliable quality partner,” shared the management.

“

Organizations will be able to overcome these hurdles when aided by a reassuring government. Consistently assuring the quality of preservation through automation, high quality refrigeration technology and standards has become a prime requirement,” shared the management of the company.

Criteria to Start a Cold Storage The management of Gubba Cold Storage shares few points for those interested in starting a cold storage – 24 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS

VOLUME - 02, ISSUE - 02, 2021

IG International Pvt Ltd The Trusted Fresh Produce Provider

W

hat started off as a passion to deliver fresh fruits to customers by some eager entrepreneurs, expanded to a much larger scale as the government eased the tax regulation on imports in India. Taking advantage of the tax regulation, the company in focus, IG International Pvt Ltd began exporting and importing fresh fruits. Today it is a giant cold storage conglomerate in trading of fresh produce.

While lot of hard work and perseverance went into building this gigantic business, equal amount of it goes into maintaining consistency and this has been no cakewalk for the entrepreneurs. But with sheer will and ardent desire to deliver the best always have helped them set a benchmark.

Motivation Behind the Success Fresh produce and Cold Chain go hand-inhand. IG International Pvt Ltd is a leader in the fresh produce industry and the credit of it goes to its strong cold chain infrastructure that IGIPL has been able to retain its position of the leader over the past two decades.

“IGIPL by far has the largest cold chain network in India and has been continuously investing in upgrading and bringing best cold chain technologies to the country. It is extremely vital to have a strong cold chain when it comes to perishables,” informed Director of IGIPL, Tarun Arora.

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India's Best of 5 Cold Storage Companies

The first cold storage project was executed in 2017 and since then IG has established more than 15 facilities across the country. IGIPL also operates a fleet of more than 200 trucks.

A Century of Standing Upright IG International is one of the largest importers of fresh fruit in India for the past 50 years. This year, it is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

“Over the past 50 years, we have built global sourcing infrastructure with strong associations and partnerships with top fruit growers of the world. In India, we have the largest distribution and wholesale network of imported fresh fruits. We have our own cold storages across different cities and a fleet of Reefer Trucks for efficient handling and transportation of fresh fruits in a temperature-controlled environment,” Arora added.

IG International is a group of 14 companies in diversified trades. Its deep understanding of consumers, a strong portfolio of brands and distinctive capabilities across the value chain have enabled it to deliver broad-based superior performance across all its businesses.

“We have a strong focus on infrastructural development for procuring, handling and storing of fresh fruit. Our dedicated team of highly experienced professionals work closely with our key partners to create competitive advantage for the business,” Arora shared.

importer of fresh fruits since the last 50 years. The company sources a large assortment of fruits like apples, pears, kiwis, plums, grapes, avocados, cherries, blueberries etc including the club varieties from South Africa, South America, USA, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Beyond imports - other activities in IGIPL’s portfolio include temperature-controlled warehousing and third-party logistics. It has facilities in Amravati, Theog, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai.

“We have a fleet of around 100 reefer trucks and trailers, with each trailer comprising 40 reefer containers. We move around 40,000 MT of fresh fruit annually in India,” Arora informed.

The Unique Selling Proposition Customers value proposition and brand connect. In India, consumers have a penchant for sweet fruits and IG always brings the best fruit in the world to Indian consumers… sweet, fresh, nutritious.

“This is possible because we have excellent equity with all top fruit growers of the world because of which we are able to source the best at the best prices. It is also because we have in-house cold chain logistics infrastructure with our own cold storages and fleet of refrigerated trucks,” Arora shared.

Challenges in the Cold Storage Sector

Products, Services and Logistics IG International is India’s largest VOLUME - 02, ISSUE - 02, 2021

Arora lists four major challenges faced by the cold storage sector -

1. Time Management and Compliance Efficiency and product control are high priorities for cold storage facility managers. They must use time-tested processes as well as implement new industrial equipment that makes their business run more smoothly and, ultimately, more profitably. One must constantly look for systems and solutions that reduce waste, eliminate unnecessary cost and improve workers’ safety. The fundamental goal is to prevent losing food products and profit.

2. Protecting Food Products If you are in the cold chain industry, you know different products require unique temperatures to keep from spoiling. You wi’ll need to regulate and maintain both humidity and temperature in your warehouse to extend the life of your products as much as possible. It can be challenging and risky.

3. Labelling of Racks and Individual Products You probably already know how crucial barcode labels are. They create the link between each physical product in your inventory and your computer systems that monitor receiving, storage, retrieval and shipments. A single forgotten or lost label could lead to an unsafe or entirely ruined shipment.

4. Requirements for Accurate Product Tracing At all times, you need to have INSIGHTS SUCCESS | 27

accurate location information about the products that move through your warehouse, so you can determine affected products in situations with sudden or unexpected temperature changes. Without exact traceability, it would be impossible to locate these products. Fresh produce and similar perishable products require even more management and control over external factors like humidity and carbon dioxide.

Criteria to Start a Cold Storage For aspiring entrepreneurs, Arora, highlights certain criteria to be followed to start a cold storage 1. Business Plan To start a cold storage business, one needs to create a detailed business plan that should contain all the business-related information, details regarding products and services to be used and employees’ details with full name and address.

2. Finalizing Location Location plays a vital role in any business. For cold storage businesses, it should be kept as close as possible to the farms or consumer centres.

3. Basic Design and Requirements of Cold Storage Unit A basic design should be created of the cold storage unit. A good plan shows direction for successful execution of the cold storage unit.

4. Equipment Selection During summers as the heat is immense, equipment to be used should be cautiously selected and installed to manage heavy loads 28 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS

and power cuts. The following factors should be considered before finalizing on equipment for cold storage, such as equipment’s age, and light, fan and product load, heat produced from stored products, ceiling, wall, floor, etc.

5. Maintenance and Cleaning Maintenance of cold storage plant also holds equal importance and temperature, humidity level, and preserved produce should be checked regularly. Timely servicing or cleaning of containers, trays and storage bins is also necessary.

6. Promotion and Target Audience The success of a cold storage business relies on the effective implementation of marketing strategies and promotional and advertising campaigns. In the initial, as well as the later stages of business, an entrepreneur should target various market segments, including traders, wholesalers, marketers, promoters, retail markets, and warehouse companies, supermarkets in rural and urban areas. For further increase in sales and profit, business owners can approach retailers, business growers, producers, distributors, exporters, etc.

financial requirements or cash crunch situations.

Surviving the Pandemic Like all other sectors, our industry also faced challenges during the pandemic. “We were a bit lucky to survive by not only being in the fresh produce Industry but also with the infrastructure and the efficient cold chain network that we possess,” said Arora.

In the Future IG is at the forefront of digital ecosystem that is backwardly integrated for last-mile online order fulfilment and delivery in metros and tier-2 and tier-3 towns across India.

IG’s strategy is to build on its reach to its customers across India through this “Phygital” route.

“We are working on enhancing the width of our physical network so that we are able to cater to a larger number of wholesalers and retailers in tier-2 towns through our wholesale outlets. Our strategy is to promote the category of Imported Fruits across all consumer segments,” Arora signs off.

7. Arranging Funds Arranging finance is one of the most difficult tasks, as cold storage business requires substantial capital investment.

Managing total investment for business from the hard-earned savings is not a viable option, neither is it recommended as savings are used to meet urgent VOLUME - 02, ISSUE - 02, 2021

Global COLD STORAGE Industry Scenario

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Industry Insights

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toring in temperatures lower than the ambient has certain reasons of which some include

In the case of foods, preservation for longer time by lowering or stalling decomposition. In some cases, it also helps preserve the taste, texture, and quality of ingredients. The last is the case with processed foods including meats, milk products and veggies where typically temperatures range between 18 to -25°C Ÿ With dairy and related products, storing cold enhances the taste and novelty as with ice-creams, shakes and smoothies. Ÿ Maintaining the consistency and potency, as is the case with medicines, drugs, and vaccines. Ÿ

Having been buffeted by the Covid-19 pandemic which has left industry and economies in tatters besides culling a sizable number of humans worldwide, we have another reason to keep things cold. To keep things disinfected - a big driver today in the world of global cold storage.

Worldwide data shows the positive effect that this industry has, like: Ÿ Sizable savings in preserving and serving food-items be it plant based or meat-based (on an average of 1015%. Not doing so results in losses as high as 20-23% of the overall production.

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Increasing the distribution of essential drugs and medicines to the poorest parts of a country. The presently abating Covid-19 and how cold-storage and cold-chains are affecting the supply, distribution and use of the vaccines worldwide is a fit case in point.

Even in the normal order, there are certain eye and ear drops like Chloramphenicol and Cyclopentolate, Antibiotics including Amoxicillin and Erythromycin, Tablets like Leukeran and Alkeran, all insulin injections and vaccines and certain nebulizers and nasal sprays that need constant cold storage. Their increasing use underscores the need for a global cold storage chain right from their place of production to the place where they are finally in use. Ÿ Giving rise to an industry in itself besides enhancing other - like milk by-products, meat-based foods.

Refrigeration provides employment to 12 million worldwide and uses about 552 million square meters of space. In terms of employment, 4 out of a 1000 work in some form or the other for the global cold storage industry. In certain countries like the US, their numbers are likely to grow by 20% in the next couple of years significantly higher than employment in other sectors which stands at 11% Ÿ

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As for the reasons behind the immense need for cold storage worldwide, it can be attributed to factors including: Ÿ The worldwide aim to preserve more produce, be it agriculture-based or meat-based. While an India transports a miniscule 4% of its farm produce in refrigerated trucks, a UK does 90%! No prices for guessing which country wastes more and has lower incomes. Farmers and animal-keepers want better prices for their produce, and this translates into higher need for cold-storage facilities and transport. In fact, this shall make Asia Pacific the biggest and fastest-growing market in the field with a CAGR of more than 13% till 2025 of which China and India would be the biggest contributors. Ÿ Preservation of medicines besides western countries.

Even in the absence of the Covid-19 learnings, developing countries are increasingly putting in place cold-storage facilities to handle medicines of various kinds (some being mentioned before) be it to supply within the country or outside. Ÿ Exports of perishables worldwide. Countries like India and China have large areas under agriculture, the output of which isn’t always meant for domestic consumption. In fact, a sizable quantity finds its way to European and American markets where they find better prices. And the only way to keep them fresh and 32 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS

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saleable, is to keep them in the right environment in cold storages be it in plants or reefer boxes. With increasing exports of perishables, the need for cold storing is only increasing.

Increasing disposable incomes worldwide leading to higher consumption of perishable goods. Milk-based, farm-based, or meat-based foods are the first things that people consume with gusto when they are paid well.

India and China among others are seeing an unprecedented boom in household incomes in urban areas. In the same order, consumption of processed foods needing cold storing too is rising fast.

Increased production in the food-related sectors.

India and China are today the world's largest producers of milk, vegetables, and fruits besides leading in fish, poultry, and livestock. These themselves have necessitated the setting up of large global-standard coldstorage plants which shall only increase in the future.

Increasing set - up of super and Hyper markets that need dedicated cold-storage and cold-chain supports.

The likes of Walmart, 7-Eleven, Tesco, and Spar among others are expanding their reach not just into developed countries but also in the rest of the world including Asia and South America.

Better technologies and power-generation. Till the time that countries in Asia were deficient in electricity, entrepreneurs thought twice before setting up coldstorage plants. Today, with China being power-surplus and India following suit, the very reason to hold back on this account does not exist.

Digitization of cold-storage management technologies including the use of IoT-enabled devices that inform on real-time basis and smart warehousing.

Net-based technologies now allow for their management while being miles away. The use of IoT-based technologies helps run plants super efficiently which in some cases result in cost cutting by half!

While all of what we mentioned before may show the industry in a truly interesting light, be informed that this industry does have certain undesirable sides as well including: Ÿ Concerns over global warming due to CFC gases.

Not all of the gases and raw materials used by the industry are environmentally friendly. Though there is a move towards safer things, bringing a worldwide change anytime soon may be too far-fetched. Ÿ Increased demand for electricity and fuels to power DG sets. By their own admission, the industry consumes close to 20% of the total electricity generated worldwide with electricity itself being 30% of their total VOLUME - 02, ISSUE - 02, 2021

cost. With such a huge CO2 footprint, it cannot get over the pollution pedal anytime soon despite their best efforts. In fact, with increasing use of cold-storage plants worldwide, bringing this figure down could just be a pipedream. Add to this is the fact that in countries that consume less electricity (Bangladesh for example), the use of DG sets could be very high just to keep the plants productive. The latter pollute heavily. Ÿ They are a high-cost industry. Using a cold storage does have advantages. But it comes at a cost, a very steep cost which could very quickly eat into the profits of any user. Ÿ Finance. The cost of setting up cold-storage plants are high by any standards. In fact, even by advanced country standards, these remain right from capital expenses to daily working and maintenance. Add to that fuel costs and manpower. Ÿ Availability of land at the right places and of the right sizes Cold-storage plants come in the heavy industry league which consume heavily on inputs and need large areas for set-up and maintenance. Also, Coldstorage plants need ancillary service areas include vehicle parking facility, sorting, and packing areas, washing and cleaning areas and so on. Setting up an integrated plant thus needs space which in the urban context could either not materialize or do so at exorbitant costs. Ÿ

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Availability of infrastructure be it related to roads or electricity that facilitate cold-storages and cold-chains.

A country’s transport and power infrastructure may have a lot to do with the setting up and successful running of cold storage plants. It’s precisely for this reasons that developing countries in the south Asian region despite potential are seen as problem areas.

A ‘mixed bag’ best describes the Worldwide Global Cold Storage Industry. A lot may have to be done to make it truly green. Thankfully, efforts are on worldwide. Speaking of efforts worldwide, refrigeration technology does have other innovative uses besides preserving that include: Ÿ Forming the basis for heat pumps to save energy and carbon emissions in all kinds of industrial and building applications. Ÿ Helping transport gases including CNG by cryocooling i.e., deep refrigeration. Ÿ Helping extract and manage heat from major scientific projects including CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Ÿ Helping capture CO2 from large power and industrial plants to liquify and store it below the ground. Ÿ Helping store (research is still on in this) energy generated using renewable means.

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Supreme Fresh Offering Unparalleled Cold Storage Solutions with Quality and Integrity “

Yaseen Balwa Co-founder

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ood should be pampered and handled the way a guest is treated in a hotel,” says Yaseen Balwa, the Co-founder of Supreme Fresh, emphasizing on the necessity of cold storage facilities being an integral part of the logistics chain.

This opinion by Mr. Balwa evidently points towards the fact that companies that provide cold storage solutions play an integral role across various sectors. Pertaining to this importance, Supreme Fresh, a part of Supreme Cold Chain, was founded to provide top-notch storage conditions and solutions for agricultural produce.

With a proven expertise and experience of 17+ years,Supreme Fresh is one of the first integrated solutions providers in the cold storage space offering refrigerated storage for temperature-sensitive consumables to retain product characteristics, active ingredients, freshness, and nutritive values for longer durations.

The company’s mission is to offer quality and technologically advanced cold storage solutions for hygienic storage of fresh produce with an effective and automated delivery. And its vision is to be the market leader in cold storage solution with innovation in service, quality,and delivery.

Supreme Fresh is primarily a storage solutions provider for import and export of fresh fruits, vegetables, dates, spices, dry fruits, etc. The company also provides complete solutions of grading, sorting, packing at its dedicated packhouse at the desired temperature and

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India's Best of 5 Cold Storage Companies

humidity before they are shipped to the desired destination abroad.

Supreme Fresh’s facilities are practically the best in industry, being, both dust free and temperature controlled, utilizing the latest in technology and offering solutions such as vertical automatic conveyors, pallet goods lift, ethylene scrubbers, dehumidifiers, and a professional team to execute a safe and efficient solution to every client’s supply chain needs.Additionally, the company’s warehouse infrastructure also comprises of multi-temperature chambers to meet the most stringent requirements for handling a broad range of temperature-controlled products at same time.

We asked Mr. Balwa his opinion on the basic criteria or checkpoints that must be fulfilled and followed to operate a cold storage facility, to which he commented, “Any cold storage facility should be easily accessible by road and with large open space for easy manoeuvring of containers. The facility should also have large temperature controlled holding areas and adequate height in cold rooms for better cold air circulation through the stored products.

The facility should be efficiently planned for easy storage and retrieval of goods. The installation should be carried out with utmost care so that the air losses are minimum, thus minimizing loss of Energy.”

Talking about the challenges that the company faced, Mr. Balwa says, “The challenges faced by cold storage sector are non-continuous, viz., high energy operating cost and unavailability of labour and no or less application of supply chain management.Talking about the challenges during COVID-19 pandemic, not just the cold storage space, it has affected every industrial sector in the country with drastic VOLUME - 02, ISSUE - 02, 2021

reduction in import and export of perishable items due to non-availability of shipping lines, reefer containers, transport trucks to ply from farm to cold storage facility. Our facility was operating at 30% of its capacity. Huge quantity of agriculture produce got wasted due to lack of transportation during the peak lockdown time where in the produce could not reach the facility on time.”

Supreme Fresh has always adopted technology at every stage which gives it a competitive edge over others in the market. The company aims at providing prompt service through faster loading, unloading, and delivery of goods which is achieved by three vertical material conveyor and three pallet goods lift.

This reduces the dependency of labour force and reduces the time by 50%.Additionally, installation of Ethylene scrubber machines ensures an increase in freshness and shelf life of sensitive imported products like Kiwi, Apples, Apricot, Grapes etc.

Dehumidifier in anterooms ensures the area remains dry even in the wettest of monsoon for safe manoeuvring of the goods.

remain fresh and non-toxic during their transportation and distribution until the point of sale.

To scale its operations and expertise in the coming future, Supreme Fresh Plans on entering the cold logistic space with reefer trucks and also buildingcold storage networks in the North, East and South zones of the country so that perishables are stored at right environmental parameters and INSIGHTS SUCCESS | 35