While the cold chain logistics industry is booming, the marketization level of food cold chain is very low, with little third-party involvement. In China, the logistics and distribution of perishable food, except for the export portion, is mostly handled by producers and distributors. The development of third-party logistics in the food cold chain is significantly lagging. Simultaneously, the service network and information system are insufficiently developed, resulting in poor accuracy and timeliness. The cost and product loss of the food cold chain are also very high.

The cold chain logistics industry is rapidly heating up

In recent years, the scale of China's cold chain logistics has grown rapidly. Taking agricultural product cold chain logistics as an example, China's fresh agricultural product output has increased rapidly, with approximately 400 million tons of fresh agricultural products entering the circulation field each year, and the proportion of cold chain logistics is gradually increasing. In the next few years, the cold chain circulation rate of fruits and vegetables, meat, and aquatic products in China will increase from 5%, 15%, and 23% to over 20%, 30%, and 36%, respectively, and the refrigerated transportation rate will increase from 15%, 30%, and 40% to 30%, 50%, and 65%, respectively, which will bring hundreds of billions or even trillions of yuan in market demand for cold chain logistics.
Taking Kunming as an example, the current cold chain logistics industry can be roughly divided into the following categories: The first is traditional cold storage plus transportation. These manufacturers are mainly concentrated in the second ring road of the urban area, represented by Kunming Cold Storage Plant, including Wangdaqiao Cold Storage and Liangting Cold Storage. These frozen food companies were established in the 1970s and 1980s, their equipment is outdated and difficult to use, and they often encounter obstacles in logistics and distribution. They also lack information guidance in business channels and have limited sales channels. However, this less than 30,000-ton storage capacity has maintained the cold fresh food demand of one-third of Kunming's wholesale market in the past.
The second is the self-built business model of food enterprises, represented by Yunnan Shennong Meat Industry Co., Ltd., Jiahua Company, McDonald's and other fast-food companies, and cold storage counters in farmers' markets and supermarkets. These operators and enterprises have stable customer sources and are involved in retail. The third is the cold chain logistics business model supporting characteristic agriculture. This business model is established based on major agricultural production areas, connecting with planting bases, origins, and characteristic greenhouses. Upon harvesting, the products are immediately subjected to cold chain transportation and put on the market. Examples include the Chenggong fresh-cut flower industry, the Songming Yangqiao vegetable greenhouse cold storage, and the Jinning vegetable production base cold chain logistics.
Finally, there is the third-party cold chain logistics business model, represented by the "Yunnan ASEAN International Cold Chain Logistics Center" which is about to be put into operation and the "Kunming Airport Cold Chain Logistics Industrial Park" which is about to start construction.

Lagging Development of Third-Party Cold Chain Logistics

In particular, the third-party cold chain logistics park business model has a short history in China, but its potential is strong. One of its characteristics that distinguishes it from the above three business models is its ability to integrate the cold chain logistics market. That is, it uses advanced information platforms to provide a large number of operators and distributors who have invested in the park with diversified deep processing services and broad marketing channels.
Currently, the basic situation of the development of third-party cold chain logistics in China is the coexistence and development of third-party logistics enterprises with food production enterprises as their parent bodies and independent third-party logistics companies. Professional third-party cold chain logistics accounts for about 20%, mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, lacking industry competitiveness. In addition, the logistics of most perishable foods are handled by producers, processors, and retailers themselves, which greatly hinders the cost-effectiveness of the cold chain market and also hinders the development of third-party cold chain logistics enterprises.
Approximately 40% of Chinese enterprises tend to operate their own refrigerated logistics business to effectively control product quality, but 60% still hope to rely on third-party cold chain logistics to reduce the pressure of product cold chain transportation. Therefore, outsourcing cold chain logistics is necessary for temperature-controlled product manufacturing enterprises, and its necessity is specifically reflected in the advantages obtained by enterprises in the process of cold chain outsourcing.

Outstanding Advantages of Cold Chain Logistics Outsourcing

Through cold chain logistics outsourcing, enterprises can concentrate on their core business. Companies that need cold chain logistics are generally mainly producers of low-temperature, perishable food. These enterprises have high requirements for basic refrigeration technology, refrigerated transportation technology, and operations in cold chain logistics. They require a complete cold chain logistics chain, as well as excellent refrigerated transportation equipment and professional transportation management mechanisms. These are precisely the weak links of production enterprises. Therefore, outsourcing cold chain logistics to a third party and concentrating time and energy on the core business is the best choice for enterprises.
Cold chain logistics outsourcing can effectively reduce enterprise costs. Outsourcing the product cold chain transportation link can effectively reduce the investment required for various cold chain logistics facilities such as the purchase of transport vehicles, the establishment of fleets, and the construction of cold storage, thereby effectively reducing the enterprise's financial costs. In addition, transferring transportation responsibility to a third party, if problems arise due to improper transportation, the third-party logistics company will be responsible, which can also reduce the enterprise's related operating costs and reduce manpower and material resources in this area.
Cold chain logistics outsourcing can effectively enhance enterprise competitiveness. The improvement of enterprise competitiveness is mainly based on the first two points. With the increasing intensification of industry competition, for small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have the ability to operate their own cold chain logistics, investing valuable resources in cold chain logistics is uneconomical. A complete third-party cold chain logistics system can provide all the logistics services required by enterprises, helping production enterprises concentrate on their core business and thus gain an advantage in industry competition with high quality and low cost.