North America Cold Chain Market Analysis By Type (Storage, Transportation, Monitoring Components), By Application (Fruits and Vegetables, Dairy, Fish, Meat and Seafood, Processed Food, Pharmaceuticals), & Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025

Industry Insights

The North American cold chain market size was valued at USD 62.37 billion in 2015. Numerous factors, such as technological improvements in processing, packaging, and storage processes of seafood products, are expected to be the key factors driving the North American market. The retail outlook of the U.S. has been changing in a way that food is available across all retail formats such as convenience stores, supermarkets among others.

Strong government regulations have urged the manufacturers to follow stringent practices in their procurement and the service providers to increase investment for obtaining safety certifications. A majority of the companies are focusing on expanding their market size based on availability of skilled labor, government regulations, and market demand.

U.S. cold chain market, by application, 2014 - 2025 (USD Billion)

Cold chain, a temperature-controlled supply chain, is primarily used by the food and pharmaceutical industries. Developments in cold chain help in retaining the quality of the harvested products and also guarantees a cost-efficient supply of the products. Frozen foods retain their quality and nutritive values for a longer period and restrain bacterial growth & biological degradation.

The cold chain operators focus on upgrading the existing technologies related to their products and services to ensure integrity, efficiency, and safety. The increasing demand for quality food, among customers, and the increased investment of organizations are the primary growth factors driving the North American cold chain market.

Application Insights

Based on applications, the industry is segmented into Fruits and vegetables, dairy, fish, meat and seafood, pharmaceuticals, and processed food. The fish, meat, and seafood segment was the dominant segment (terms of revenue) in 2015. The processed food segment is anticipated witness high growth rate, owing to the increasing demand for probiotics in the region.

The dairy segment is anticipated to have considerable growth over the projected period, owing to the increasing demand for packaged dairy products. In October 2014, Americold Logistics, LLC established a new facility, at Heyburn (Idaho), with a capacity of more than 17,000 pallets, to serve the local dairy and agricultural markets.

The monitoring components segment finds increased applications in the pharmaceutical industry, as the components are sensitive to temperature. Pharmaceutical companies are highly regulated and required to comply with federal safety laws. Transportation of healthcare products (by air) demands specific storage facilities, equipment, and harmonized handling procedures to maintain shipment integrity.

The temperature management issues of transportation are addressed by Temperature Control Regulations (TCRs) of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). TCRs include the necessary documentation, packaging, and government details for transportation of healthcare products.

Type Insights

Based on types, the industry is segmented into storage, transportation, and monitoring components. The storage segment dominated (in terms of revenue) and was valued at USD 47.50 billion in 2015. The monitoring components segment is anticipated to witness highest growth rate over the forecast period.

North America cold chain market, by type, 2015 (%)

The storage segment is further bifurcated into warehouse and refrigerated container. In 2015, the warehouse storage segment generated the largest revenue. The transportation type is further segmented into road, rail, sea, and air. The rail transportation segment is anticipated to portray high growth rate over the projected period with a CAGR of 11.0%.

The monitoring segment includes hardware components such as sensors RFID, telematics, and networking devices. The sensing devices segment comprises various sensors and modules that detect and gather information from different devices for further analysis.

Sensors are now rapidly shifting from motion and image sensing toward measuring humidity, temperature, and human health, owing to the increase in consumer IoT devices such as wearables.

Regional Insights

U.S. dominated the regional market (in terms of revenue) in 2015. The key factors driving the U.S. market include stringent government regulatory environment, availability of skilled workforce, availability of infrastructure, and the growing demand for packaged food.

Canada is anticipated to have significant growth over the projected period. The presence of major fishing zones and reduced electricity charges are the key factors driving the Canadian regional market.

E-commerce is the rising trend in the U.S. cold chain market and is used for grocery sales, fresh food, and packaged food delivery. The increasing outsourcing of cold warehousing and transportation to third-party service providers is also likely to enhance the e-commerce for perishable consumer packaged goods.

IATA created a global pharmaceutical logistics certification program under their center of excellence of independent validator. The certification program provides training, regarding standards, regulations, compliance, and audit processes, to the stakeholders and identifies the cold chain service providers, who are compliant with certification standards.

Competitive Insights

The key players in the market include Americold Logistics (U.S.), Burris Logistics (U.S.), Lineage Logistics Holding LLC (U.S.), and United States Cold Storage, Inc. (U.S.). Companies use improved information about consumer behavior, products, and processes for achieving differentiation and transformation in their products.

Report Scope

Segments covered in the report

This report forecasts revenue growth at North America regional & country levels and provides an analysis on the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For this study, Grand View Research has segmented the North America Cold Chain market based on the type, application, and regions:

• Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

  • Storage

    • Warehouse

    • Refrigerated container

  • Transportation

    • Road

    • Sea

    • Rail

    • Air

  • Monitoring Components

• Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

  • Fruits and vegetables

  • Dairy

  • Fish, Meat, and Seafood

  • Processed Food

  • Pharmaceuticals

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

  • North America

    • U.S.

    • Canada

    • Mexico