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Summary of our market study
The French cold storage market is worth over 1.5 billion euros.
The global cold storage market is growing at an annual rate of over 10%. The frozen food segment dominates, due to the increase in frozen food consumption in emerging markets such as India and China.
Trends in the French market
Demand for perishable goods (meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, fruit, vegetables and pharmaceuticals) is growing, and cold storage facilities are an essential component in maintaining the integrity of these products.
Two main forms of cold storage are used: positive cold storage, with temperatures between 0°C and 15°C, and negative cold storage, with temperatures below 0°C.
The market is experiencing strong growth, with large, sophisticated warehouses in demand to meet the growing needs of the online food trade.
Companies range from general freight forwarders to cold logistics operators and specialized cold storage players.
High energy consumption puts pressure on operators' costs. The cost of electricity for refrigerated warehouses has more than doubled between July 2020 and July 2022.
Cold storage players
Freight forwarders and general logistics operators
- XPO Logistics is a global supplier
- Rhenus Logistics
- ID Logistics is another major specialist
- Sofrilog stands out for its concentration and expertise in the cold logistics sector.
Specialized carriers and cold logistics operators
- The Nagel Group specializes in food logistics
- Olano is a name synonymous with refrigerated transport and logistics services.
- Delanchy stands out in the niche market of fresh and frozen food logistics.
Cold storage specialists
- STEF
- Iris Logistique and Logistisud
- Newcold and Somat
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Definition and scope of study
Like refrigerated transport, cold storage is part of the cold logistics sector. It is the intermediate storage stage between the goods leaving the factory and the logistics platform to avoid breaking the cold chain.
A cold store is a building that stores perishable goods at low temperatures. The products concerned fall into two categories:
- Food products (meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, fruit, and vegetables);
- Pharmaceutical products.
Cold storage can be
- Positive cold (between 0°C and 15°C);
- Negative cold (below 0°C);
- Multi-temperature (positive or negative cold and storage of dry products).
The French warehousing and storage market is growing. Vast warehouses are increasingly sought-after and preferred to meet the ever-growing demand from e-commerce. But while the cold-storage market can rely on the boom in online food retailing, which is growing fast, cold-storage players have to contend with several obstacles to expansion, such as the growing appeal of fresh and local produce.
This segment is marginal, but short distribution channels are becoming increasingly popular. Another challenge facing the energy-intensive cold storage business is managing its energy costs.
1.2 A fast-growing global market
The global market
The cold storage market has grown significantly in recent years, particularly from strict regulations governing the production and supply of temperature-sensitive products. Analysts forecast annual growth of **.*% over the coming years.
trend in sales of cold storage services World, **** - ****, US$ billion Source: ****
Based on temperature type, the ...
1.3 French market growth slowed by health crisis
Estimating the sales generated by the cold storage and warehousing sector at around *.** billion euros excluding VAT in **** is possible. The sector's growth accelerated sharply from **** onwards, before slowing down in ****, as shown in the graph below.
refrigerated warehousing sales trend France, **** - ****, € million excl CAGR: + *.*% Source: ****
Logistics real estate in ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 Overview of customers in the sector
The customers of cold storage operators can be segmented as follows:
Producers and importers of agri-food raw materials Manufacturers of fresh and frozen food products; The foodservice sector; Distributors; Pharmaceutical and medical industry players.
The development of the cold storage market is closely linked to the demand for perishable goods that ...
2.2 The development of e-commerce is having a major impact on the cold storage market
E-commerce sales France, ****-****, Billions of euros Source: ****
E-commerce in France has grown by leaps and bounds, reaching ***.* billion euros in ****. Although business growth rates have slowed since ****, they still record double-digit growth.
Spending on food should follow the same trend
The top ** e-commerce sites by number of customers in the ...
2.3 Dynamics and functioning of the frozen food sector
As the main customers of companies specializing in cold storage, the relative weight of the different channels and players enables us to estimate their importance for the companies present in this market.
B-to-B distribution of frozen foods
Business-to-business distribution can occur between a frozen food manufacturer (***).
Wholesalers (***) offer a wide range ...
3 Market structure
3.1 Geographical distribution of production and number of players
To determine the number of companies and employees in the area, we used NAF code **.**A, which stands for cold storage and warehousing. The NAF code is a code assigned by INSEE to any company listed in the SIRENE catalog. With the help of the Urssaf website and this NAF code, ...
3.2 Sector companies and new disruptive players
The following companies make up the cold storage sector in France.
These companies include the leading "pure players " in cold logistics: STEF, Olano, Sofrilog... and generalists such as XPO, who have integrated the cold storage business.
Disruptive new players
From housing to urban transport, from Airbnb to Blablacar, the collaborative economy ...
3.3 Cold store activity
The purpose of a cold store is to receive goods requiring this type of storage and hold them for a specific period of time. Activities in these warehouses are essentially concerned with handling operations. There are two main activities in these warehouses:
Forklift operators Order pickers
Forklift operators
These are the ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Cold storage services
There are three types of cold stores, depending on the desired temperature:
Positive-cold warehouses, with temperatures between * and **°C, for storing different types of products with a short use-by date (***). Negative-cold warehouses, with temperatures below *°C, generally between -**°C and -**°C, and down to -**°C. In logistical terms, ...
4.2 Awards: From purchasing mobile cold rooms to building refrigerated warehouses
The selling price of mobile cold rooms is mainly linked to * factors:
Volume Number of pallets Temperature range
Source: ****
Finally, according to STEF and Cryologistic, the investment cost of a new warehouse is around *** euros per cubic meter, with amortization over a period of ** to ** years. [***]
The evolution of cold storage ...
4.3 Automation could shake up the sector
Racking optimization to boost cold storage efficiency
Traditional static and dynamic racking systems must contend with the growing importance of warehouse automation. Warehouses are increasingly turning to digitalization to optimize employee movements, for example. Mecalux explains that there are three levels of automation within a warehouse.
Source: ****
The low level of ...
5 Regulations
5.1 Difficulties in finding manpower and controlling costs within a strict regulatory framework
The refrigerated warehousing industry struggles to attract workers due to the difficult working conditions imposed on its employees. [***]
Cold storage logistics represent a health and food safety issue and are therefore governed by French and European regulations. For example, the European regulation **/**** requires cold chain operators to use temperature recorders at ...
5.2 Regulated production
The use of HFCs (***) to maintain products at below-ambient temperatures is already regulated.
At the European level, Regulation ***/****, known as "F-Gas II", in force since January *, ****, "significantly reduces and will reduce by **** the quantities of HFCs placed on the market". [***]
However, the French government has announced that taxation on this type ...
6 Positioning the players
6.1 Segmentation
- XPO Logistics
- Rhenus logistics
- Sofrilog
- Olano
- Delanchy
- Nagel Group
- Somatref
- Iris Logistique
- Newcold
- Logistisud
- Stockbooking
- ID Logistics
- Tesson Groupe - Dartess
- Stef
List of charts presented in this market study
- Leading cold storage suppliers
- Sales trends in cold storage services
- Trends in cold storage sales
- Pharmaceutical logistics expenditure, by type
- Pharmaceutical sales by type of transport
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Latest news
Logistics: STEF strengthens its position in Northern Europe - 09/01/2024
STEF, the transport and logistics group specializing in food products, has recently made two acquisitions to strengthen its presence in Benelux. The company acquired Bakker Logistiek, the leading local player in temperature-controlled transport. Bakker Logistiek has 6 sites in the Netherlands, 1,400 employees and a fleet of 325 vehicles, with sales of 150 million euros. STEF has acquired TransWest, a Belgian company specializing in the transport and logistics of frozen products. TransWest has 500 employees and 150 trucks. By 2024, the Dutch, Belgian and British markets should generate sales of nearly 600 million euros for STEF. France is expected to generate around 58% of STEF's sales in 2024, with the remainder coming from neighboring countries. STEF's sales target for 2022 is 4.26 billion euros, with 22,000 employees and 273 platforms or warehouses.
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