Cold Solutions Kenya Limited has announced that it will invest US $70m in constructing state-of-the-art, temperature-controlled cold storage warehouses in the country. The cold storage facilities will be located in Nairobi and Mombasa. The firm will construct Cold Solution’s flagship facility in Tatu City Special Economic Zone in Nairobi.
According to media reports, the 15,000 sqm grade ‘A’ cold storage complex on six acres at Tatu City will be the country’s largest, most advanced and efficient in the region. A typical grade ‘A’ facility is defined as that with high specifications in terms of quality, size (much bigger in scale than typical warehouses), hook height and dock levelers, large lay-down area around the warehouses and specialist facilities such as cold storage.
Utilizing a combination of local and international specialists, Cold Solutions Kenya’s facility at Tatu City is expected to be operational in 12 to 18 months. It has been flexibly designed to cater for numerous temperature ranges from +26 to -40 C and multiple product ranges, from fresh fruit and vegetables, to pharmaceuticals and vaccines, meats and poultry and frozen foods.
The leading temperature-controlled warehouse and logistics service provider is a portfolio company of ARCH Cold Chain Solutions East Africa Fund, a private equity fund advised by ARCH Emerging Markets Partners Limited (ARCH).
The need for cold chain solutions
Even though fruit and vegetable production is a fast-growing sector in Kenya, and it bears considerable local and international market potential, the post-harvest losses of horticulture crops are far higher than those of cereal crops. It is estimated that 40-60% of fruits and vegetables produced for consumption are lost along the supply chain.
Due to a lack of cold chain solutions in Kenya, most crops are only seasonally available with price variations between peak harvest and low season reaching up to 500% under normal conditions.
The creation of extensive and reliable cold chain solutions could greatly impact, in a positive way, food security and economic development. Cold chain solutions can play a major role in minimizing food loss as well as improving food hygiene and public health. It could also be enablers for Kenya to take part in international trade as both consumers and producers.
The creation of extensive and reliable cold chain solutions is essential to ensure food security and economic development. Cold chain solutions can play a major role in minimizing food loss as well as improving food hygiene and public health. These businesses are also enablers for developing countries to take part in international trade as both consumers and producers.
