Are you into importation of pharmaceutical drugs or goods? Do you import and export large scale frozen food business and perishable items such as frozen food, fruits, live snails, and related? You might recall that before the invention of refrigerated container, vans and trucks, pharmaceutical products as well as fresh produce could only be transported about 80km from its source.

Yes, that short a trip!

By the way, that’s if we assume that the product reaches the market on the same day it was produced, otherwise, it perishes.

The Nigerian cold chain management has grown tremendously over the years. From the earlier years when it was only about iceboxes and pre-coolers in cars, it has been able to bring sophistication to the forefront. Now we see large shipping containers, high tech containers, cooling warehouses and transportation of food, fruits, vaccines, chemicals etc., around the country.

But it doesn’t end there. Nigeria have gone beyond her national borders and is taking her cold chain management service to other African nations and beyond.

With the development of the cold chain industry over the years, fresh produce and perishables can stay fresh and safe until it gets to its destination.

What is cold chain management?

The cold chain management in Nigeria is a means of transporting and storing products to meet specific temperature requirements.

It is a supply chain management process that involves the performance of industry-specific, and temperature-controlled packaging techniques to guarantee the safe movement of food and medicine between specific conditions.

Cold chain logs are the most beneficial to the shipment of your products and should be taken very serious.

The cold chain managment is the system that also helps ensure that vaccines and other pharmaceuticals as well as frozen foods such as live snail, fruits and certain foods, are stored at specifically related temperature and transported to other places where they can be delivered.

With the advancement of technology in Nigeria, there has been a lot of development to make things better with distribution, especially with vaccines. Everyone wants to make sure that the vaccines are working well and that patients, especially the children are kept healthy.

The Value of Global Cold Chain Market

In a response from an interview conducted by Jill Okeke of the Nations Newspaper speaks on the prospects and challenges of Nigeria’s emerging cold chain industry, it was confirmed thus;

…Market forecast posits that the global cold chain market is estimated to be valued at USD 218.0 billion in 2020 and is expected to exceed USD 500 billion by 2026. The market in Nigeria is big yet untapped considering the population and vast opportunities available in the cold chain industry. With adequate support and collaboration, the potential for growth is enormous.

Mandilas, in an interview with Jill Okeke (the Nations Newspapers).

The cold chain management system in Nigeria is slightly new in logistics and it is important to know how this works. Its overall process sees that ensures that products or drugs are stored at the correct temperatures before they are sold, bought and consumed by customers.

There is a clear indication pointing to the fact that Nigeria can save abut $9b annually by avoiding spoilage of goods through transportation of the refrigerated products.

Basically, transport refrigeration is an important aspect of cold chain logistics. Presently, Nigeria has less than 1% of the world’s cold storage and mobile refrigerated logistics capacity. The market is huge with great potential for growth, and if properly tapped the industry will benefit the economy and improve the life and living of Nigerians.

Items that can be shipped in a cold chain management

• Fresh fruits (banana, mango etc)
• Bulk frozen vegetables and fruits (watermelons, pineapples and the like)
• Frozen meat cuts
• Fish cuts
• Frozen bread/baked goods products
• Ice cream pails and cartons
• Frozen juices (not UHT)
• Ice cubes for domestic use
• Packaged dairy products e.g buttermilk, UHT milk, butter
• Human remains
• Vaccines & other pharmaceuticals (NB: For pharmaceuticals, it is defined as the temperature range of  2° and 8°C (or 36° to 46°F) or ambient conditions. Packing line equipment is used to maintain the temperature of compliant products while they are being inspected.

Key elements of cold chain

• Cooling systems. Used for bringing commodities such as food to the appropriate temperature for processing, storage, and transportation. Cooling systems keep medicines and vaccines fresh and ensure their safety. We help hospitals keep things running smoothly.

• Cold storage: Cold storage facilities are an important part of cold chain management to ensure that the temperature in the cold store is constant and low enough for foods to be stored in a safe manner. This key element keeps temperature-sensitive items at a low enough temperature to reduce the risk of spoilage or loss. The process ensures the maintenance of temperature-sensitive medications. It is essential to keep these products in perfect conditions during transportation, or the drugs could lose their potency or expire altogether. Cold storage is usually kept at temperatures lower than 2 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit).

• Cold transport. Cold transportation is one of the key elements of cold chain management. This is a system for delivering goods under defined conditions. The idea is to control the temperature, humidity and other environmental factors (e.g. air pollution, vibrations, shocks, impacts) to maintain food items in ideal condition and avoid spoilage. It involves two phases: storage at low temperatures before shipment and maintaining the temperature en route to destination keeping it well within an optimum range.

• Cold processing and distribution. If you are dealing with the distribution of temperature-sensitive goods and must adhere to the cold chain management procedures, you need to be aware of the guidelines that are in place for safe temperature-controlled transport and storage.

Wrap Up

As always, our over 20 years of running Freight Shipping and Customs Clearing Business in Nigeria has seen quite a good number of importers and exporters make values. We have helped a lot of them record possible successes in their businesses.

This post is for informational purposes, although we are open for a business discussion with you whenever you are ready or willing to import or export your items. Our years of experience in Freight Shipping and Customs Clearing has led our way up above peers and that is why we at Bowa-gate Global Limited have been able to identify what works and what does not in the interest of our growing customer base.

We are willing to take you through a whole new perspective.

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