Cold Storage Explained

Temperature-controlled storage is a critical element of the supply chain and without these warehouses it would be extremely difficult, and potentially impossible, to support the supply of food into the global network.

What products can be stored in temperature-controlled storage?

Cold stores are suitable for a range of goods from pharmaceuticals to food products, however, at Magnavale we primarily specialise in the storage of food products in the form of both raw materials and finished goods. Chilled and frozen warehouses are usually designed to house large volumes of palletised perishable food products, whereas ambient warehousing usually holds non-perishable goods or long-life food products that do not require chilled or frozen temperatures.

One of the industry’s preferred methods of freezing goods down to standard -18°C temperatures is Blast Freezing, which is a fast and efficient method to maintain the quality, taste and texture of food products, such as proteins. Following the blast freezing process, products can then enter our frozen warehouse facility for storage.

What temperature does a cold store typically operate at?

Standard temperatures across the industry vary slightly depending on the specific product being stored but for multi-user chambers, which accommodate products for dozens of customers, there are 3 main temperature regimes.

Ambient – For goods which do not require temperature control

Chilled – Between 0°C and +5°C

Frozen – At -18°C

How is a warehouse managed and organised?

Our temperature-controlled facilities house warehouse racking systems that can store all types of pallet presentations including CHEP and Euro pallets.

We use various digital platforms to assist with process management and location tracking. One of these is our Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). Our WMS systems allow us to track and monitor our customer’s stock down to individual case levels whilst also providing our customers with personalised web access giving the benefit of real-time stock enquiries and bespoke stock reports. We have over 200,000 pallet spaces in our cold storage network, and without a WMS, it would be impossible to supply our partners will full stock traceability.

If you’re interested in our cold storage solutions, enquire below.