UK Cold Chain Logistics Market is Expected to Reach $24.37 billion by 2026

According to a recent report published by Allied Market Research, titled, "UK cold chain Logistics Market by End user Industry: Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018-2026," the UK cold chain logistics market size was valued at $4.55 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach $24.37 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 23.6% from 2019 to 2026.

The meat, fish, and sea food segment dominates the UK cold chain logistics market, followed by fruits & vegetables, bakery & confectionary, drugs & pharmaceuticals, dairy & frozen desserts, and others. In addition, the dairy & frozen desserts segment is expected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period.

Cold chain can be defined as the technology required to maintain a product within a specified low-temperature range from harvest/production to consumption. It is necessary that the refrigeration units are designed to maintain the temperature within the preferred range and prevent variation in temperature. This implies that goods in the shipments should be brought to the required temperature before loading in the reefers, which requires specialized storage and unloading/loading facilities. In addition, maintaining appropriate temperature conditions in the supply chain and monitoring temperature-sensitive products is necessary. The UK cold chain logistics market includes key elements such as cold storage, cooling systems, cold transport, and cold processing & distribution.

Dry ice, gel packs, eutectic plates, liquid nitrogen, quilts, and reefers are some of the major cold chain technologies involved that are used to provide temperature-controlled environment during transportation. Gel pack consists of a phase changing substance that can transform from liquid to solid and vice versa and is a commonly adopted solution to provide low temperature. The temperature of dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) is around −80°C and has the capability to keep the shipments at a low temperature for an extended time. Eutectic plates, also known as cold plates, work on the same principal as gel packs. In addition, liquid used in these plates can be reused multiple times. Liquid nitrogen is mostly used for transportation of biological cargo such as organs and tissues.

Furthermore, the rise in online grocery shopping has resulted in the increased refrigerated warehouses. Multiple export industries are dependent on the vital links that the cold chain solutions system provides. Moreover, businesses invest millions of dollars in UK cold chain logistics industry to create effective, efficient, and reliable process because an end-to-end cold chain security is the weak link in the system. Single breakdown in the cold chain logistics chain can lead to catastrophic losses of products and capital. In addition, the UK has been named as the third largest online grocery market in the world after South Korea and Japan. Furthermore, around 6.1% of the grocery sales in the UK is made online, which in turn propels the UK cold chain logistics market growth. Thus, increase in number of refrigerated warehouses to maintain the integrity of grocery sold online is expected to boost the growth of the cold chain logistics market in UK.

A new range of reefers are available online, which are equipped with an array of sensors used to monitor the temperature inside and shut down the cooling system when necessary. In addition, shipping lines implement remote monitoring systems, which enable monitoring of humidity and location of reefers. Furthermore, these reefers are equipped with a wireless communication system and GPS device, providing updates to access any issues along the cold chain.

The study in report presents analytical depiction of the UK cold chain logistics market analysis along with the current trends and future estimations to depict the imminent investment pockets. Moreover, the cold chain logistics market trends in UK will be deciding on the basis of forecast from 2019 to 2026.

The UK cold chain logistics market is segmented on the basis of end user. Depending on the end-use industry, it is categorized into fruits & vegetables; bakery & confectionary; dairy & frozen desserts; meat, fish, and sea food; drugs & pharmaceuticals; and others.

Factors such as increase in number of refrigerated warehouses and development of the pharmaceutical sector are expected to drive the growth of the market. However, factors such as lack of standardization pertaining to operating procedures, security, temperature, pest control, and others and high operational cost restrains the UK cold chain logistics market growth. On the contrary, availability of RFID technologies for cold chain applications and adoption of automated software for cold chain logistics are projected to offer lucrative growth opportunities for the market players.

Market forecasted from 2019 to 2026 by considering all the driving factors that influence equally to the market. In 2018, the UK cold chain logistics market share will account highest for meat fish & sea food end user segment.
Intermodal transportation of goods in cold chain logistics requires storage yards on the transport terminals, namely, ports, which account for around 1–5% of the total terminal capacity. The task is labor-dependent, as each container should be plugged & unplugged manually, and the temperature inside the reefers should be monitored regularly. Reefer stacking areas are dependent on three approaches, which include wheeled storage, stacked storage, and rack storage. In wheeled storage, reefers are placed on the chassis and are moved to the parking where each parking slot has a plug for electric reefers. In addition, yard equipment such as reach stackers are used to stack the reefers in stacked storage. Furthermore, in rack storage, reefers are stacked and stored in the rack systems that can hold around 20–30 reefers. Increase in need for cold storage and refrigerated transportation propels the growth of the UK cold chain logistics market.

Key Findings of The UK Cold Chain Logistics Market:

• By end-use industry, the dairy & frozen desserts segment is expected to grow at a significant growth rate throughout the forecast period.
• In terms of growth, the dairy & frozen desserts segment is expected to be followed by drugs & pharmaceuticals, bakery & confectionary, fruits & vegetables, and meat, fish, and sea food.

The key players profiled in the UK cold chain logistics market report includes AGRO Merchants Group, Bring Logistics UK Ltd., Chiltern Cold Storage Group Ltd., Ice Co Storage & Logistics, Kerry Logistics Network Limited, Lineage Logistics Holdings, LLC, NewCold, Nichirei Logistics Group Inc., The Seafast Group, and others.