Kaylen Holmesly​ ​9/27/18
The Cold Chain
The cold chain is the ever-expanding invisible chain that stretches across the
global market. It is the chain of delaying decay and extending the life of fresh produce,
meats, and more. The cold chain starts from the moment an animal is slaughtered, the
moment food is picked from the field, and the moment something is manufactured.
From that moment, the product has begun its journey to the consumer, a journey that is,
more likely than not, refrigerated.
The products, apples, for example, leave the field or orchard and are placed in a
controlled atmosphere (CA) storage. Here, they are chilled, and the oxygen level around
them is lowered, putting them to “sleep” for 6-12 months. Next, they are loaded up and
placed on a refrigerated truck and sent to their destinations. Some will be sent straight
to the supermarket for sale, where they will be stored at room temperature. Others will
be sent for processing. Some will be sliced, kept cool to prevent browning and
premature decay, and packaged up in little assorted fruit boxes. These boxes will be put
in open-display refrigerators that line the supermarket shelves. Their journey is not yet
over though. They are now ready to be bought and put into our own home refrigerators
for consumption. Lastly, some of these apples will be processed, stirred into
applesauce or cider or pies, kept cold or even frozen for freshness, packed into boxes
for us to put into our fridges and, best, our stomachs. So, it commences. The year long
journey of a single apple, from field, to truck, to storage, to truck, to processing plant, to
supermarket, and all the way into the homes of consumers like you and me. That is the
cold chain.
None of this happens on it own however. All of these services are intricately
connected to the refrigeration industry. The farmers and supermarkets are consumers
themselves, buying equipment put out by refrigeration engineers and their teams,
drafters and marketing agents and financial advisors alike. The people who ship the
produce, the people who maintain and operate and design the cold storage facilities for
the produce, all the way down to the guy bagging it up at the checkout counter are all
loosely connected parts of a larger, colder picture. A picture of the refrigeration industry
and a picture of the cold chain.