Do you need cold storage solution, cold room solutions, frozen food cold room storage warehouses, milk and cold room storage of dairy products solution, cold room for meat storage, seafood cold room storage solution? Choose us as your partner and we will provide you with a solution that will satisfy you.
The cold chain is an evolving presence in the grocery business, one that has been driven by increasing demand and technological innovation to address conditions in the marketplace today across a range of concerns, including food safety, sustainability and labor.
Woodstock, Ga.-based Primus Builders has a broad view of cold-chain development, as it is, at the core, a refrigerated facility construction company, although it has developed additional related operations over the years. According to Erik Gunderson, founding partner and COO, the course of the business is following broader food-sector trends that have affected supply from field to store shelf. One of them is labor.
[Read more: "The Future of Cold Storage"]
“There is certainly a demand on human resources, so we have been seeing a tremendous demand for more automation, and it hasn’t slowed down,” affirms Gunderson. “It’s only accelerated. So we’re continuing to see more automated facilities that are justifying their capital costs. We’ve seen a higher level of interest and higher level of investment, and that’s across the board: That’s with foodservice, that’s with grocery, that’s with … public refrigerated warehouses and third-party logistics, all deploying automation to streamline and mitigate labor shortages.”
He adds that interest in sustainability is rising again as the COVID-19 pandemic winds down, and even if not everyone wants a LEED-certified building, consumer concern and the cost of energy are twin influences pushing companies to enhance efficiencies.
“We’re seeing an investment in energy efficiency in 2022 more than what we saw a couple of years prior,” notes Gunderson.
Another key trend having a substantive effect on investment in the cold-storage sector is the advent of developers that are building more Class A refrigerated facilities, but speculatively.
Gunderson observes that demand for cold storage is such that those facilities are still filling up with customers. Of course, all things are never equal, and some companies, particularly those with prior experience in cold storage, seem to be in a better position to thrive.
“Class A cold-spec buildings are in high demand,” he says. “Those that we’re seeing that are most successful are bringing in cold-storage industry experts. Those that are doing it properly and building a high-quality building are getting their buildings bought out or leased out.”
One reason that food retailing and foodservice operations are working with developers of Class A buildings is energy efficiency. “In these new-generation facilities, the energy efficiency is so much greater than in a lot of the older facilities,” says Gunderson. “There are tremendous energy gains that are being experienced by the people who move into the new boxes.”
The demand is coming across the board — everyone from small foodservice operators to food manufacturers to third-party logistics operators. Even if major supermarket operators aren’t yet using the new spec facilities, Gunderson observes, they have contemplated doing so.
“It’s only a matter of time” before they dive in, he adds.
The evolution of building for the cold chain has been affected by the increased understanding of food safety and appropriate product handling. The companies building new facilities are using technology both as they work with builders in raising facilities and in managing them afterwards. The ability to connect with technology via cell phone is an element that may not seem exactly like a breakthrough, but it has substantive benefits.
“There is a higher level of owner involvement,” explains Gunderson. “There is technology in terms of surveillance with just our cell phones that provides 24/7 access. There are a lot of project management and cost management platforms that are shared between us and our clients. That didn’t happen 10 years ago.”
In operation, systems are so sophisticated, he says, that “there is now the ability to run diagnostics pre-event, pre-problem,” and thereby pre-empt trouble.
At the same time, automation is playing a larger role in cold-storage facility development, in part to address labor issues in a sector where chilly working conditions can limit the pool of potential employees.
“The use of machines in construction and in buildings will continue,” asserts Gunderson. “Automation in the cold supply chain will continue to develop. It’s really hard to work in environments like this. There are regulations that limit time of exposure. That goes away with robots.”
Primus has developed an operation within the business to help clients install the right automation.
“We started our automations or solutions group going on half a decade now, and it took some years to get traction with it, but what we’re able to provide is a third-party view with a construction background on how to get things done and find best-of-class for our client,” says Gunderson. “We’re not trying to sell a particular piece of equipment; we’re trying to find best-of-class [solutions] for our client.”
If you have any questions on cold storage solution, cold room solutions, frozen food cold room storage warehouses, milk and cold room storage of dairy products solution, cold room for meat storage, seafood cold room storage. We will give the professional answers to your questions.