Refrigerated Warehouses Don’t Have Their Supply Chains Down Cold

Frozen foods are in vogue, which should come as no surprise to anyone. Amidst the ongoing pandemic, health concerns are making consumers hesitant to return to in-restaurant dining and economic uncertainty has them gravitating towards easy-to-cook and cost-effective alternatives. In fact, frozen food sales were up significantly in March and April of 2020, with 86% of consumers sharing that they had bought frozen food, according to the American Frozen Food Institute. Importantly, 7% of consumers who have purchased frozen foods since the onset of COVID-19 in the U.S. said they did not (or very infrequently) purchased frozen food items pre-pandemic.

But supply chains for frozen food have some of the biggest challenges in the food industry — as its popularity grows, cold storage facilities are feeling the pressure to keep up. Traditionally, cold storage facilities are either run by the manufacturer or public refrigerated warehouses (PRWs), providing services that efficiently (some more so than others) deliver frozen food to grocer retailers. But even before COVID-19, facilities were being strained due to unfavorable working conditions (typically -10 to -20 Fahrenheit in the warehouse), a tight labor market and ongoing concerns over employee safety.

The pandemic has only exacerbated these issues, resulting not only in grocery shelves empty of essential products, but freezer cases without frozen foods. Similar result, yes, but the supply chain challenges limiting frozen foods are not the same as those keeping perishables off of shelves.