How Modern Cold Storage Facilities Are Transforming Cold Food Distribution with Technology
How we approach cold storage and cold food transportation has been radically transformed in recent years. What once appeared to be a relatively straightforward matter of storing products in cold conditions, we now understand is in fact a highly technical process requiring an extreme level of attention to detail and accuracy. In modern times, the driving force behind the best cold storage facilities comes down to three key components: innovation, flexibility, and people. We stay ahead of the curve by accommodating ever-growing consumer demands, designing custom solutions that are consistently executable, in a pro-people environment.
Behind the right assets and powerful technology are the workers who bring it all together. It is our staff who ensure technology translates into effective service delivery. It is their hard work with smart tools that allows us to offer more fresh produce, more frozen consumables, and more food — with shorter chains and less complexity of storage, handling, and distribution.
Consistent Cold Food Distribution
Automation and smart systems now play a huge role in reducing manual handling and minimizing temperature fluctuations. When paired with a strong Warehouse Management System (WMS), barcode scanning, and RF tracking, we get full traceability and much faster order fulfillment with far less risk of spoilage. The days of selecting orders with a paper pick sheet have been replaced by Vocollect-driven double pallet jack riding high-speed selectors pulling over 275 cases per man hour — with consistency north of 99.97% at those speeds, something we could have never imagined before this technology.
It’s a symbiotic marriage of people and technology that alerts us to potential risk and then delivers the solution to mitigate that risk, which means more food reaching the consumer and less ending up in the shrink pile.
In perishables, it has to be done right the first time, and right every time. There is no margin for error.
Temperature Monitoring System for Cold Food Storage
Maintaining proper temperature has always been vital, but now we have IoT-enabled sensors that allow us to track temperature throughout the facility on a minute-to-minute basis. Any slight deviation triggers an alarm, and we are able to take immediate action to prevent any adverse consequences.
Moreover, these systems enable us to engage in predictive maintenance and reduce equipment downtime.
The same technology exists on our fleet as well. Every truck, every trailer, every pallet position — we have complete transparency into all relevant environmental factors so we can make real-time decisions that result in the avoidance of millions of dollars of waste.
Air Quality Is Vital: Ionizers and Ethylene Scrubbers
One of the most significant, yet largely overlooked, innovations in contemporary cold storage technology is air purification. In all of our cold storage facilities, we install Miatech ionizers and ethylene scrubbers, which work continuously to remove ethylene gas, spores, mold, bacteria, and other airborne impurities from the air.
What makes them especially effective is that they work without chemicals, helping extend shelf life naturally while maintaining the flavor, texture, and nutritional value of fresh produce. Our teams have seen firsthand how these scrubbers reduce shrink and give our customers a more consistent, higher-quality product week after week. It’s a perfect example of technology quietly supporting the people who handle the food every day.
Produce begins to deteriorate the moment it is harvested and has a long journey from the field to the fork. This technology is another way we partner to ensure we are adding value to the cold chain, and to humanity at large.
Technologies That Ensure Freshness for Cold Food Distribution
We are now starting to witness how AI is becoming an important tool in cold storage — for predictive inventory forecasting as well as optimization of storage layout based on real-time data analysis. Together with our procurement and logistics expertise, these innovative technologies enable us to make better decisions and keep products flowing.
If you are in this business, you understand that dreaded moment when a customer calls and asks “do you have space for X?” and your operational leader says “we are out of space, can we get storage trailers?” With the advent of AI-powered intelligence, those days are over. Now, AI directs our teams in real time on how to better utilize our space, maximizing capacity — which not only brings down costs, but also allows us to get to that critical “yes” for our customers. The operations leader wasn’t wrong; they just couldn’t see what AI sees, didn’t have time to take out a tape measure and determine there were 6 inches of dead space in every pallet position, and that by moving cross beams we could add another 3 feet of storage height. But AI doesn’t necessarily understand that a particular item comes from multiple suppliers with different ti/hi pallet configurations, so while it may fit today, it won’t tomorrow. Again, it is that marriage between people and technology that creates highly efficient, almost bionic output — allowing for true optimization.
Flexibility Is Key
Beyond new technologies, while all of the above is critical, it is flexibility that matters most of all. Trucks don’t break down at the most inopportune times. New orders don’t come in when you happen to have lots of space. Construction on your refrigerated facility doesn’t get completed as quickly as it once did. The reality is, stuff happens, and the right partners adapt. Most cold storage companies tend to operate on strict schedules and minimums and do not have flexible procedures that are consistently executable. We designed our business to stand in that gap. That’s why we say “we’ve got the middle.” At Foster, we own the responsibility to adapt when you need us to. We respond to unforeseen issues and don’t turn the lights out at 5 PM. We uniquely understand that time is money, and the clock is ticking. We also don’t throw food safety, protocols, and procedures out the window every time a customer has a crisis. To the contrary, we design those things to embrace the crisis, account for the unknown, and still work when something else has gone wrong.
It’s not too dissimilar from a commercial flight: while the autopilot is designed to run smoothly, it accounts for winds blowing in different directions and can compensate for those variances in real time. So can our technology. If you’re like me, you still want a highly trained, experienced, competent pilot in the chair making decisions when technology can’t. Think of an F1 race car — amazing technology, but it doesn’t win races without a stellar pit crew and driver. At Foster, it is your passengers on that plane, your logo on that race car — our pilots and pit crews, with the right technology to get products safely to their final destination, to cross the finish line faster than anyone else, so that ultimately, you win.
People. Food. Together
Contact us to learn more.