What is cold chain logistics?

Cold chain logistics generally refers to a systematic project in which frozen and refrigerated food products are kept in a specified low-temperature environment at all stages from production, storage, transportation, and sales to before consumption, in order to ensure food quality and reduce food loss.

Cold chain logistics has been established with the advancement of science and technology and the development of refrigeration technology. It is a low-temperature logistics process based on freezing technology and using refrigeration technology as a means.

The scope of application of cold chain logistics includes: primary agricultural products: vegetables, fruits; meat, poultry, eggs; aquatic products, flower products. Processed foods: quick-frozen foods, packaged cooked meats such as poultry, meat, and aquatic products, ice cream and dairy products; fast food ingredients. Special goods: pharmaceuticals.

Because the food cold chain is a supply chain system aimed at ensuring the quality of perishable foods with the core requirement of maintaining a low-temperature environment, it has higher and more complex requirements than general常温 logistics systems, and the construction investment is much larger, making it a massive systematic project. Due to the timeliness of perishable foods, all aspects of the cold chain require a higher level of organizational coordination. Therefore, the operation of the food cold chain is always associated with energy costs, and effectively controlling operational costs is closely related to the development of the food cold chain.