According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), refrigerated warehouses can be defined as “establishments primarily engaged in the warehousing and storage of perishable goods under refrigeration.” The establishments may also rent locker space for the storage of food products for individual households and provide incidental services for processing, preparing, or packaging such food for storage.

The refrigerated warehousing market is projected to reach a value of USD 29.17 Billion by 2022. The global demand for refrigerated warehousing is increasing significantly due to the growing demand for frozen food products such as fish, meat, and seafood, leading to a rise in the requirement for refrigerated storage for these perishable foods. Growing health-consciousness among consumers and rising incomes have boosted the consumption of a wide variety of perishable products, particularly seafood, meat, and fruits & vegetables. On the basis of technology, the refrigerated warehousing market was led by the blast freezing segment in 2016. Blast freezing is the most versatile method for freezing seafood, meat, fruits, and vegetables. This technology ensures increased control and protection from bacteria, preserves the nutrients of the food products, and is one of the most cost-effective methods for storing food products over a long period of time. The refrigerated warehousing market, on the basis of application, is segmented into fruits & vegetables, bakery & confectionery, milk & dairy products, meat, seafood, and beverages. The fruits & vegetables segment accounted for the largest market share in 2016; this is attributed to the growing health-consciousness among consumers and their rising incomes which have boosted the consumption of a wide variety of frozen and chilled products, particularly fruits & vegetables. In North America and Europe, health concerns are driving the demand for fruits & vegetables, as consumers prefer healthier and more nutritious options in their diet. The refrigerated warehousing market, based on temperature, is segmented into chilled and frozen. The frozen segment accounted for the larger market share owing to the increase in demand for perishable food products such as meat, fish, and seafood which require frozen temperature for storage. The demand for frozen food is increasing, particularly in the North American region. Asia Pacific accounted for the largest share of the refrigerated warehousing markets in 2016, owing to rapid urbanization and the expansion of retail channels. The major countries that contribute significantly to the growth of the Asia Pacific region are China, Japan, India, and Australia & New Zealand. The increasing demand for frozen food is further expected to boost the refrigerated warehousing market. The major restraining factor for the refrigerated warehousing market is high energy consumption and infrastructure cost.

Refrigerated Warehousing Market vendors are placed into 4 categories based on their performance and reviews in each criterion: “visionary leaders,” “innovators,” “dynamic differentiators,” and “emerging companies".

Visionary leaders are the leading market players in terms of new developments such as product launches, innovative technologies, and the adoption of growth strategies. These players have a broad product offering that caters to most of the regions globally. Visionary leaders primarily focus on acquiring the leading market position through their strong financial capabilities and their well-established brand equity.

Dynamic Differentiators are established players with very strong business strategies. However, they have a weaker product portfolio compared to the visionary leaders. They generally focus only on a specific type of technology related to the product.

Innovators in the competitive leadership mapping are vendors that have demonstrated substantial product innovations as compared to their competitors. The companies have focused on product portfolios. However, they do not have very strong growth strategies for their overall business, when compared with the visionary leaders.

Emerging companies have niche product and service offerings. Their business strategies are not as strong as that of the established vendors. The emerging vendors include the new entrants in the market, emerging in terms of product portfolio and geographic reach, and require time to gain significant traction in the market.