The purpose of cold chain is to prolong the shelf life of food & beverages. The products are stored in temperature below average than required wherein controlled humidity is arranged & maintained in refrigeration system. Several gases like Oxygen, Carbon dioxide, Carbon monoxide, Nitrogen etc are regulated through specific instruments & precision devices. Furthermore, purpose of cold chain is also to extend shelf life of seasonal fruits & vegetables which are produced in their specific season. This allows the consumer to have desired food throughout year as cold chains are a perfect amalgamation of human expertise & advanced cold chain technologies. Consumer demands for the freshest offering and desire for maximum appetizing in low cost gave purpose of cold chain existence.
Cold Chain precisely refers to closely co-ordinated events in temperature controlled environment to transport food & beverages to its end user. The products transported through temperature controlled measures are highly sensitive and requires special handling. Cold Chain is a science which requires understanding of biological process linked with perishability of the product. It is technology based as it relies on physical means to ensure temperature control in the supply chain. Cold Chain is most importantly a process which requires series of tasks performed to store, transport & monitor temperature controlled products. To name few food & beverages which requires cold storage are processed meat, poultry, Frozen foods like peas, vegetables, McCain, ice cream, pastries, cakes, dairy products like cheese, curd, probiotic milk, etc.
Agriculture & Food Industry is one of the largest sector in growing economy like India. The cold chain for food & beverages acts as a backbone of this sector for sustaining the scale of food production & processing. Technological innovations forfeited manual operated precision equipment. Real time tracking using GPS technology fosters accurate temperature monitoring whilst active monitoring adjusts temperature in case of fluctuations. The Bar Code Inventory tracking system is par excellence tool to maintain, store & distribute food & beverages easily & conveniently.
Maintaining product cost & timely delivery is a major determinant for opening up of cold chain storage. The purpose of cold chain is to be prompt, quick enough to supply the desired product without any leakage or transfigure of product shape and size. Therefore, a feasibility study is necessary for opening & planning of a cold store. This study examines market, distribution, technical, and administrative solutions and procedures, as well as potential sites, and evaluates each one’s suitability for the project at hand from both a technical and financial perspective.
Selecting the appropriate type of Cold Chain storage is crucial at first instance. It is important to consider how cold chain is being used. There are several types of cooling chamber with +8 to +10 degree known as cool room, -1 to -8 degree range is cold storage chamber whilst frozen storage refers to -18 to -24 degree. Finally Blast Freezing ranges with a temperature of -35 to -45 degrees. Each section of the store room holds products suitable according to compatible temperature. The room size should not be too large or too little for accommodation of goods. The cold chain storage is designed according to the kind of products which would be kept inside the refrigerator.
The whole purpose of cold chain would be futile in case food is kept in miscalculated temperature. To complete the cold chain cycle, it is critical to know what temperature products require transportation during transit & duration from one point to another point. The products can be easily stored in cold chain storage in form of carton box, package, pallet, etc.
To sum up, cold chain keeps perishable food products safe & maintains high quality at the point of consumption. Failing to keep product in right temperature can result in leakage, texture degradation, dis-coloring and most importantly microbial growth. Delivery of quality products accelerates customer satisfaction with increased demand of cold stored products.