Since 2015, ColdHubs has been developing and providing innovative solutions that help resolve all the cold chain problems for agribusiness and smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The cold room solution has helped to improve the income of over 5000 smallholder farmers annually and contributed to the value chain of the Nigerian economy.
Over the years, the company has maintained its integrity by reducing the spoilage of fruits and vegetables using sustainable, clean energy solutions. In 2022, we launched a cold logistics solution to resolve the issue of transportation for temperature-sensitive products such as fruits and vegetables, dairy products, pharmaceutical products, and other perishables to promote the value chain of agribusiness enterprises.
Recently, ColdHubs also unveiled a mega cold room warehouse in Dan-Magaji Zaria in the north-central part of Nigeria, popularly known for its high production of vegetables and being very close to other states that cultivate fruits and vegetables.
Overview of ColdHub's innovations and the unraveling solutions it can offer to smallholder farmers and the food supply chain industries
20 Tonnes of Cooling Logistics Services
One of the challenges faced by Nigerian farmers and the food supply industry is how to transport their perishable produce to end-users with its nutritional value still intact. Over time, farmers sell off their produce at a lower price to avoid spoilage.
Recently, ColdHubs reported that fruit and vegetable retailers in Avu Carrot Market, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria, lost a huge number of tons of vegetables. In Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries, the transportation of perishable food is a major problem in the supply chain. Local farmers produce is brought to the farm with buses, trolleys, motorcycles, or tricycles. Long-distance transportation is mainly done with trucks, which can be very costly and unsafe for the produce. Losses that occur using this system of transportation result in physical and mechanical injury and uncontrolled conditions.
The ColdHubs Logistics Solution averts all challenges with the provision of refrigerated trucks. Starting the cold logistics extension with 10-ton trucks became insufficient for agribusiness experts and value chain economists, which resulted in the launch of the five 20-ton refrigerated trucks into the fleet in July 2023. The 20-ton cooling truck has the capacity to accommodate one thousand crates of produce, whether fruits and vegetables, meat products, dairy products, seafood, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, or any other sensitive products. Deliveries are done within 24 hours of loading the products across states in Nigeria.
This solution provides complete supply chain services that cover assembly needs, inventory management, storage, contract packaging, and refrigerated transportation with 100% Goods-in-Transit (GIT) insurance on all products and the latest tracking devices that keep the temperature of the products in check, control the activities of our pilots,and report performance to customers, all in real time.
However, there is high demand for more trucks and refrigerated vans from ColdHubs as the stakeholders are testifying about the impacts of the cooling logistics services on their businesses.
A tomato grower in Jos appealed that having refrigerated vans would ensure safe transportation of their produce to the states. In his words “If ColdHubs can add refrigerated vans to its fleet of services, it will help the transportation of these vegetables for short-distance services”.
Cooling Warehouse (100-Ton Cold Room) for Long-Term Cooling
In Nigeria, excess crops are produced, especially fruits and vegetables, during the rainy season and harmattan period, and their sensitive and perishable nature calls for a need to preserve them for future use. Most fruits and vegetables are seasonal produce and may need to be stored ahead of time to avoid scarcity or deterioration after harvest.
However, advanced preservation methods are too sophisticated and expensive for rural farmers. If not properly stored, the desirable attributes and qualities of color, flavor, texture, and nutritional value may be impaired or lost. To serve the multipurpose cooling services, ColdHubs designed and built a 100-ton cold room that has the capacity to extend the shelf lives of 500 thousand crates of fresh fruits and vegetables and other perishables on a daily basis for a long time of 2 to 3 months.
The magnificent cooling building has different extensions that serve farmers' demands, such as a washing and grading machine for fruits and vegetables, a crate washing section, and an ice pack, all running on clean energy.
Before storage and transportation of any perishable produce, it requires proper handling while washing and sorting; therefore, the washing and grading machine completes this task without causing physical injury to the body of the produce. Fruits and vegetables that have been treated with poisonous chemicals require very good washing before they are packed. Washing with clean water prevents wilting and also improves the appearance of the product.
These cold rooms and other of our extensive network of cold storage facilities spread across the country enable our customers to collect and store large quantities of produce and use the refrigerated trucks to move to all their desired destinations.
Returnable Plastic Crate
It can be said that proper storage cannot be achieved without good packaging. To reduce the wastage of fresh fruits and vegetables, good packaging must be given the utmost consideration. Proper packaging ensures protection against mechanical damage, undesirable physiological changes, and pathological deterioration during storage, transportation, and marketing; likewise, the freshness, succulence, and flavor of fruits and vegetables can be maintained for a longer period through good and effective packaging.
In many developing countries, like Nigeria, bamboo baskets are mostly used for packing and loading fruits and vegetables.
In order to effectively increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetables and to ensure and achieve its desirable objective of providing storage solutions, ColdHubs will commence the production of returnable crates at the beginning of Quarter Four, October. The organization understands the role of packaging in ensuring the safe transportation and preservation of fruits and vegetables from farms to consumers’ tables. It is a growing shift towards sustainable packaging solutions that will help to increase awareness and the need to reduce plastic waste while serving the alternative purpose of traditional single-use packaging for fruits and vegetables.