Dive Brief:

• APM Terminals, part of Maersk's Transport and Logistics unit, just opened a 10,000-square-meter cold storage warehouse in southern India — the first of its kind in the region.
• The warehouse will be integrated with APM Terminals' container freight station. 
• The cold warehouse facility, coupled with temperature-controlled freight, will "ensure reliable and stable transport of cargo, including goods such as fish, fruits, medicines and specialty chemicals," according to a press release sent to Supply Chain Dive.

Dive Insight:

While the cold chain has been heating up in the U.S. for several years, notably in home grocery delivery, it's been slower to catch on in emerging markets.

That trend is changing now, however, as cold chain growth is projected to skyrocket in both China and India.

"India has seen an increasing demand for temperature and humidity controlled products especially frozen foods and pharmaceutical products for both domestic consumption as well as international export," Dries van Dongen, APM Terminals’ Global Head of Inland Services, said in a press release.

For the cold chain to function, each part of the supply chain must have temperature controls in place. So if a ship transports goods in a chilled container, but there's no refrigerated warehouse to store the goods once the ship docks, it breaks a link in the cold chain. 

APM Terminals' integration of warehouse and freight enables a seamless transition, keeping goods at an appropriate temperature throughout the entire supply chain.