Cold Chain & Temperature-Controlled
Third-party logistics providers operating refrigerated and frozen distribution for food, pharmaceutical, and perishables.
- 4
- Verticals
Overview
Cold Chain & Temperature-Controlled Logistics covers the refrigerated and frozen storage and transport that preserve perishable goods — food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals — across the supply chain. It is led by cold-storage majors (Lineage, Americold — the two dominant players) and refrigerated transport and logistics providers.
Demand is driven by food consumption, e-grocery, frozen-food growth, and — increasingly — temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals (vaccines, biologics) that require strict cold-chain integrity. It is consolidating around scaled cold-storage operators (Lineage's growth and IPO a landmark), capital-intensive (refrigerated warehouses), and a high-barrier, recurring-demand segment with food and pharma the dual growth drivers.
Market snapshot
Cold-chain logistics sits within refrigerated warehousing (NAICS 493120, sized under Warehousing & Distribution) and refrigerated transport; it is not separately disclosed as a category, so the segment is not separately sized here; Lineage and Americold dominate cold storage.
Business model & economics
Revenue model
Refrigerated storage, handling, and transport fees
Key economics
- Recurring revenue
- High
- EBITDA margin
- Strong
- Capex intensity
- High
recurring storage and throughput
high-barrier cold-storage economics
Characteristics
- Refrigerated/frozen storage and transport.
- Dominated by Lineage and Americold.
- Food/e-grocery and pharma the dual drivers.
M&A deal context
Who’s acquiring
- Cold-storage majors (Lineage, Americold)
- PE-backed and infrastructure investors
- Refrigerated-logistics consolidators
What’s driving deals
- Cold-storage consolidation.
- Pharma cold-chain and e-grocery growth.
- High-barrier, recurring-demand economics.
Verticals in this segment
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