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Product Description
For over 50 years, retail marketing of frozen foods has been growing by leaps and bounds. This trend can be attributed to the convenience these foods offer, their availability throughout the year, and the high quality of the products. The quality of frozen foods, however, primarily depends on the manufacturing process, raw materials used, and the maintenance of low temperatures during storage, transportation, distribution, and retail display. Failure to maintain the desired temperatures throughout the cold chain can affect the quality of frozen foods and, thus, customer satisfaction.
Here, effective frozen cold storage plays a critical role. Let us delve into the role of frozen cold structure, its benefits, management, construction, and much more.
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Understanding Cold Storage Rooms
Cold storage is a specialized room wherein the temperature is kept very low with the help of machines and precision instruments. Cold storage facilities can be considered the primary infrastructural component for perishable commodities such as fruits, vegetables, seafood, meat, dairy, etc.
They are essential for extending the shelf-life of the products, maintaining the quality, and delaying and avoiding deterioration. From the perspective of farmers, traders, and consumers, cold storage helps avoid glut, stabilize market prices, and evenly distribute prices both on the demand basis and time basis. Thus, cold storage rooms play a key role in reducing the wastage of perishable commodities.
With that being said, cold storage facilities also need to overcome potential operational issues such as preserving end-to-end cold chain integrity, minimising energy costs, and ensuring product traceability
| Exploring Frozen Cold Storage
Frozen cold storage, also known as a frozen warehouse, refers to specialized storage facilities designed to maintain a consistently low temperature (usually sub-zero) for the storage of frozen food products. These facilities play a key role in preserving the quality and safety of frozen foods throughout the supply chain.
Frozen cold rooms are designed to maintain temperatures typically ranging from -18 ℃ (0 ℉) to as low as -30 ℃ (-22 ℉). Moreover, relative humidity is kept at the highest possible which is consistent with available equipment and good operating procedures. This is done to avoid “freezer burn” and drying out in case the food packaging material may not have good protective capability.
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Comparing Cold Storage and Frozen Cold Storage
Here are some prime differences between cold storage and frozen cold storage.
Cold storage rooms maintain temperatures from around 0 ℃ (32 °F) to 15 ℃. This range is suitable for storing perishable commodities and produce that require low temperatures (cooling) but not freezing conditions.
Whereas, for frozen cold storage facilities, on the other hand, the temperature ranges from -18 ℃ (0 °F) to as low as -30 ℃ (-22 °F). Very low temperatures are required for long-term storage of frozen food products and pharmaceutical items.
Cold storage facilities are specially designed for extending the shelf life of perishable products that do not require freezing. Some examples include dairy products, bakery items, fresh produce (fruits and vegetables), processed food, dairy products, seafood, meat, etc.
Frozen cold storage is used for storing and preserving frozen commodities such as frozen vegetables and fruits, frozen meats, ice cream, pre-cooked meals, frozen desserts, etc.
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Application scenarios
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