"Portal" to fresh food! What is the cold chain?

What is cold chain logistics?

Cold chain logistics refers to a systematic project in which refrigerated and frozen items are always in a prescribed low-temperature environment in all aspects of production, storage and transportation, sales, and before consumption, in order to ensure the quality and performance of the items. It is with the progress of science and technology, the development of refrigeration technology and established, is based on refrigeration technology,cold chain refrigeration technology as a means of low-temperature logistics process. Its role is to be able to maintain the freshness, quality and safety of food, and to extend the shelf life of food by controlling temperature, humidity and other environmental conditions.

Cold chain logistics involves various stages of storage and transportation from the supply of fresh food such as farms,cold warehouse fishing boats or ranches, to processing plants, cold storage in logistics centers, cold storage in distributors, to retail stores and final consumers.

Early cold chain systems relied heavily on ice and freezers to keep goods cold, which was inefficient and prone to temperature fluctuations.

However, with the advancement of technology, cold chain logistics has developed in leaps and bounds. Advanced facilities and technologies such as refrigerated vehicles, cold storage, refrigerated ships and refrigerated air transportation have been introduced to effectively extend the shelf life of food and other perishables.

Each link of cold chain logistics needs to invest in necessary facilities and equipment as the basic guarantee, supported by advanced technology and strict and effective management system, each link of the cold chain works closely together in order to grasp the whole operation system of the cold chain and preserve the quality of frozen and chilled food, otherwise it is difficult to achieve the expected results. Food cold chain consists of four aspects: frozen processing, frozen storage, frozen transportation and distribution, and frozen sales. For example:

Frozen processing: including the cooling and freezing of meat and poultry, fish and eggs, as well as the process of processing operations in a low-temperature state; it also includes the pre-cooling of fruits and vegetables; and the low-temperature processing of various kinds of frozen food and dairy products. In this link mainly involves cold chain equipment with cooling, freezing device and quick-freezing device.

Refrigerated storage: including the cooling storage and freezing storage of food, as well as the air-conditioning storage of fruits and vegetables and other foods, it is to ensure that the food in the storage and processing process of the low-temperature preservation of the environment. In this link mainly involves all kinds of cold storage/processing room, refrigerator, freezing cabinet and household refrigerator and so on.

Refrigerated transportation: Including food in the middle and long-distance transportation and short-distance distribution and other logistics aspects of the low-temperature state. It mainly involves railroad refrigerated cars, refrigerated cars, refrigerated ships, refrigerated containers and other low-temperature transportation means. In the process of refrigerated transportation, temperature fluctuation is one of the main causes of food quality degradation, so the means of transportation should have good performance, and it is more important to maintain stable temperature while keeping the specified low temperature, and it is especially important for long-distance transportation.

Frozen sales: including all kinds of cold chain food into the wholesale and retail links of frozen storage and sales, it is jointly completed by manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. With the rapid development of various kinds of supermarket chains in large and medium-sized cities, various supermarket chains are becoming the main sales channels for cold-chained foods. In these retail terminals, a large number of refrigerated/frozen display cabinets and storage warehouses are used, which gradually become an indispensable and important link in the complete food cold chain.

In the case of perishable food products, the cold chain monitors the refrigeration temperature to ensure its superior quality and safety for consumption. The cold chain is able to control the temperature of perishable products to ensure that they are safe to use and that they are still of good quality when purchased by the consumer. Inadequate temperature control can lead to a range of product degradations, including changes in tissue structure, color, damage from impacts and crushing, and microbial growth, in addition to changes in general product characteristics. Every link in the cold chain needs to be involved in the control of the product from the moment it is picked until it is sold. Every link in the chain can go wrong and break the cold chain, either on the warehouse platform, in transit, in storage, or in the retail supermarket. If one link is broken, then it affects the needs of the final consumer.

Since the cold chain is a supply chain system that aims to ensure the quality of refrigerated and frozen items and maintains a low-temperature environment as the core requirement, it is a huge systematic project with higher and more complex requirements than the general ambient temperature logistics system, and the investment in construction is also much larger. As the timeliness of refrigerated and frozen items requires higher organization and coordination of each link of the cold chain, the operation of the cold chain of refrigerated and frozen items is always associated with energy costs, and the effective control of operation costs is closely related to the development of the cold chain of refrigerated and frozen items.

The development of cold chain logistics has also led to the emergence of new packaging materials.

High-performance thermal insulation and cold-retention packaging, such as polyurethane foam, vacuum insulation panels and phase change materials, allow goods to be kept within a specified temperature range for long periods of time. These emerging packaging materials are thin and light but with significant thermal insulation effect, greatly reducing the energy loss caused by temperature difference in traditional transportation, making cold chain transportation more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Emerging logistics technology, such as the use of GPS, also makes the cold chain logistics has a more powerful operational security. Precise positioning and tracking enable the cold chain fleet to be monitored in its entirety, and in case of temperature fluctuations or distribution delays, timely countermeasures can be taken to ensure that the goods are in the best condition to the maximum extent possible. These high technologies make the cold chain transportation process more intelligent, and also significantly reduce the failure rate, bringing consumers more peace of mind and reassurance of service protection.

Cold chain logistics technology allows the popularization of delicacies from all over the world. Raw seafood, fresh fruits and dairy products from all over the world can be delivered to the tables of ordinary consumers through the cold chain. The application of precision cold chain technology in medicine has also become an important guarantee for our life and health. Cold chain logistics technology not only satisfies people's desire for food and makes culture from all over the world more widely spread, but also serves as a guardian chain for our healthy life.