THE NEW AGE OF COLD CHAIN
On a mission to provide innovative supply chain solutions to its customers, Arcadia Cold blends modern facilities with best-in-class technology and decades of industry experience. Chris Hughes, co-Founder and CEO, tells us more
Writer: Lily Sawyer | Project Manager: Poppi Burke
The US cold chain logistics industry has been characterized by an active and evolving economy over the past 15 years.
This can largely be attributed to a rise in mergers and acquisitions within the private equity sector during the mid-2000s – a space which had previously been capitalized by non-institutional sponsors, including families and high net-worth individuals.
As a result, three major new players began to dominate the market –Americold, Lineage, and AGRO Merchants Group.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic,
the sector continued to develop further as a wide array of new capital investors and start-ups emerged, seeking to monopolize on the postpandemic growth of the refrigerated and frozen food categories, alongside e-commerce and direct-to-consumer demand.
“Some of those new entrants have been successful in fulfilling their investment thesis, but many have not due to the operational experience required to be truly successful as a cold storage third-party logistics (3PL) provider,” opens Chris Hughes, co-Founder and CEO of Arcadia Cold (Arcadia).
A premier 3PL provider of cold storage and handling services, Arcadia boasts seven operational facilities across the US, with two more slated to launch in Q1 2026.
The company’s locations in Atlanta, Georgia; Hazleton, Pennsylvania; Burleson, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; Reno, Nevada; Jacksonville, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina; Joliet, Illinois (Q1 2026); and Crown Point, Indiana (Q1 2026) amount to 350,000 pallet positions and 2.6 million square feet of refrigerated and frozen capacity.
“We support a wide array of retail grocery, food service distribution, and e-commerce end markets,” he details.
Arcadia also represents a diverse set of food manufacturers who produce and sell consumer packaged goods, poultry, beef, dairy, seafood, beverages, probiotics, and other
commodities for both business-tobusiness (B2B) and business-toconsumer (B2C) needs.
STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD
Since Arcadia’s inception in early 2021, its modus operandi has been to design, build, and operate stateof-the-art facilities in key logistical areas across the US to support the distribution, storage, and handling needs of its customers.
“The key to our strategy – and our primary area of differentiation –has been to build our facilities with careful design considerations that meet the modern product handling requirements of today and well into the future,” Hughes reveals.
The company also strives to provide industry-leading technology and supply chain information capabilities,
offering the best customer experience of any provider in the industry.
Arcadia’s greenfield strategy provides unique value to customers that many of its competitors cannot – offering a high-touch, customerfocused model that operates within new, highly convertible and efficient facilities located in key supply chain hubs across the country.
“As many existing providers have grown largely through acquisitions, this has resulted in somewhat disparate systems, disjointed and inaccurate information, and older, less efficient buildings – all driving higher costs and lower customer satisfaction,” he observes.
As such, Arcadia provided muchneeded market improvement through its greenfield model and has been capitalizing on this approach since inception.
COULD YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR CORPORATE PURPOSE STATEMENT?
Chris Hughes, co-Founder and CEO: “Our corporate purpose statement, ‘Creating a Legacy for Good’, is a double entendre of sorts.
“We are building exceptionally well-designed hard assets in our buildings that will withstand the test of time for years to come, but we are also focused on making an important impact on the communities in which the buildings are located.
“We understand that we are creating well-paid positions in new markets, and those positions are filled by people looking to further their individual and family’s financial well-being.
“Arcadia has a direct influence on helping folks put their kids in school, renting or buying a new home, or simply improving their way of life.
“The multiplicative effect when you are talking about 70-100 employees in each of our locations is a wonderful thing to think about. To me, this is the most important legacy of what our growth vision is about. The profits always follow good intentions.”
Innovative Refrigeration Systems and Arcadia Cold:
A Proven Partnership in Cold Storage Excellence
Innovative Refrigeration Systems is proud to partner with Arcadia Cold on a growing portfolio of cutting-edge cold storage facilities designed for the modern food supply chain.
Arcadia’s expertise in cold chain logistics and third-party logistics operations pairs seamlessly with Innovative’s leadership in natural refrigeration design-build solutions, specializing in transcritical CO₂ and ammonia systems. Together, we’re delivering scalable, energy-efficient systems tailored to the evolving and rapidly growing needs of perishable food manufacturers and retailers.
In Jacksonville, FL, a 315,000 square foot facility went online in October 2024. Engineered for high-volume throughput and flexibility, it includes nearly 900,000 lbs of blast freezing capacity per 24 hours, 1,500 TR of refrigeration, and fully convertible temperature zones to support a range of customer needs.
Currently underway is Charleston, SC, which is set for completion in 2025, spanning 250,000 square feet and follows the same high-performance design standards, including a 640 TR refrigeration system and multi-temperature room flexibility.
Our collaboration of facilities with Arcadia Cold are outfitted with premium, custom features tailored specifically for each project. These include rooftop-mounted penthouse evaporators, packaged mechanical houses, and VFDs for
optimized energy efficiency. Waste heat is recovered through glycol underfloor warming systems, supporting long-term sustainability and performance. Intelligent demand-based controls with real-time power monitoring, stainless steel valve station piping, and all-welded valves ensure durability, precision, and control at every level.
These facilities represent just a few examples of the highquality, high-efficiency cold storage infrastructure that defines our ongoing partnership with Arcadia Cold.
By combining Arcadia’s operational excellence and deep understanding of cold chain logistics with our technical expertise in natural industrial refrigeration, we’re continuing to set new standards for what modern cold storage can achieve. Collaborative solutions that are not only fit for today’s demands, but ready for tomorrow’s growth.
Innovative Refrigeration Systems specializes in:
• design/build
• compliance
• energy efficiency
• engineering services
• refrigeration/compliance training
• process safety/risk management software
We also offer service coverage anywhere in the continental US, Alaska, Canada and the Caribbean.
Differentiated by more than just its operating model, the company’s strong culture further sets it apart from the competition.
“We’ve intentionally built our culture by developing our core values – community, impact, accountability, humility, integrity, and transparency. I don’t think you can build a highly successful company without building an exceptionally strong culture from within,” Hughes reflects.
Recruitment, training, and hiring likewise play into the company’s culture as it seeks to train and recruit individuals who will lean into its values.
Hughes also believes that Arcadia’s internal beliefs naturally overflow into the relationships it builds with customers.
“If our customers trust that we will be transparent and accountable for our actions, be open and honest, and demonstrate integrity in everything
we do, they will trust us with their business and their brand,” he details.
Ultimately, Arcadia believes it is a custodian for its customers’ brands – a responsibility the company takes very seriously.
TECH-AHEAD
Another incredibly important part of Arcadia’s service offering is its technology architecture – something that drives the success of the business and is a huge differentiator in the market.
It’s also an area the company spends considerable time and resources on to advance overall functionality for the benefit of its customers.
“Given that we started the company from scratch in 2021, we needed to select, test, implement, and train our entire organization on the new, state-of-the-art technology,” Hughes emphasizes.
“WE’VE INTENTIONALLY BUILT OUR CULTURE BY DEVELOPING OUR CORE VALUES –COMMUNITY, IMPACT, ACCOUNTABILITY, HUMILITY, INTEGRITY, AND TRANSPARENCY”
– CHRIS HUGHES, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, ARCADIA COLD
This included training around the warehouse management system (WMS), transportation management system (TMS), appointment management system (AMS), finance and accounting, human resources (HR) and benefits, billing, and its proprietary customer-facing web portal, ArcadiaOne™.
“While our competition also has these types of systems, they might have been cobbled together through acquisitions of disparate systems or built from scratch – in either case, they lack the best-in-class functionality that our systems possess,” he adds.
Moreover, Arcadia offers a single system platform across its entire network through its software-as-aservice (SaaS)-based supply chain management system, Blue Yonder, which provides customers with uniform, consistent, and real-time information – regardless of where their product is stored within the network.
A single sign-in affords a real-time view into all aspects of any given customer’s supply chain, including inventory and order status, product hold and release functionality, realtime reporting and alerts, and a highly summarized invoicing and paperwork function via ArcadiaOne™.
“I’m very pleased with where we are with this facet of our operations, and we are laser-focused on furthering the functionality of future releases for our current and prospective customers,” Hughes informs.
SMOOTH OPERATION
Arcadia believes operational performance is the cornerstone of any 3PL provider and is able to flawlessly receive and process customer products and pick, stage, and ship orders.
“Without this ability, it defeats the purpose of our customers outsourcing to us in the first place,” Hughes notes.
As the company was able to build its operating procedures from scratch, it was also able to leverage its management team’s collective cold storage industry experience – which amounts to over 110 years – to ensure it could purpose-build a best-in-class operating model.
“In short, we built our operations around all the obstacles and irritants we’d encountered in the past, ensuring our customers get the best experience across the supply chain, no matter which stage or point they interact with us,” he outlines.
For Arcadia to achieve this status of excellence, however, it wasn’t only down to the hard work and effort of its team – the company is fortunate to have partnered with exceptional trading partners.
These include, but are not limited to, material handling equipment (MHE),
software and hardware, cold storage protective apparel, maintenance providers, and its financial sponsor and growth partner, Saxum Real Estate.
“As a start-up, we were blessed to have the commitment and trust of our financial partners and operational suppliers. As a result, those relationships will be long-lasting and mutually beneficial,” Hughes assures.
For Arcadia, trust and commitment are a two-way street – and many of its trading partners are the reason it has grown to the size it is today.
CONTINUED GROWTH
Alongside its partners and suppliers, Arcadia is also proud of its dedicated team of employees.
“I am extremely fortunate to work alongside my committed team day in, day out,” Hughes smiles.
Doubling down on the notion that culture is directly correlated to the success of any business, Hughes points out that his team has been laser-focused on ensuring the company’s ongoing quality performance by hiring and retaining the right people.
“Each of my departmental heads is fully empowered to make decisions and be accountable for the performance management of our 250 teammates, fostering an environment of collaboration, accountability, and transparent communication,” he prides.
With utter trust in the quality and expertise his teammates bring to the
fore, Hughes is confident in the way the entire company is aligned on its goals and objectives, allowing it to exceed targets time and time again.
Going forward, Hughes’ priority is to ensure all nine of Arcadia’s buildings achieve their projected stabilized occupancy and that the company continues to execute its customers’ demands.
“My goal is to carry on providing the high level of customer service that we have to date and to monitor customer feedback on a regular basis,” Hughes surmises.
With plans already in place to continue to expand and diversify the number and type of facilities it operates, the company continues to grow alongside the satisfaction of its customers.
“We’re looking to achieve an even balance between distribution, port-based, and plant-proximate storage and handling services to offer a diverse set of capabilities for our customers to take advantage of,” he concludes.