The Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) recently released its annual Global Top 25 List of the largest temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics companies that are GCCA members.
Accompanying the Global Top 25 is GCCA’s North American Top 25 Warehouse Member List, and a list of the largest operators in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe. The lists are determined by total capacity of temperature-controlled space in GCCA membership, the association said.
GCCA warehouse members currently own or operate 6.64 billion cubic feet (188 million cubic meters). A total capacity of 982 million cubic feet was added to the Global Top 25 since the publication of the 2020 lists, due in most part to frequent mergers and acquisitions activity. This does not suggest the general industry grew at this pace.
“The Coronavirus pandemic showed the world just how important the cold chain industry really is,” said Matthew R. Ott, GCCA president and CEO. “GCCA Members continue to expand into developing markets, and we are also seeing growth in emerging markets where cold chain services are most needed.
“As evidenced by this year’s Top 25 List, consolidation continues to play a major role in the growth of the largest players in the cold storage industry.”
The Global Top 25 currently operates 6.05 billion cubic feet (170 million cubic meters). The North American Top 25 operates 4.23 billion cubic feet (120 million cubic meters). The European Top 10 operates 1.04 billion cubic feet (29 million cubic meters). The Latin American Top 10 operates 412 million cubic feet (10 million cubic meters).
Regions worldwide reported increased capacity and several new companies joined GCCA in the past year. Since 2020’s lists were published, the following changes occurred:
- Global Top 25 capacity increased by 982 million cubic feet
- North America Top 25 capacity increased by 473 million cubic feet
- Latin America Top 10 capacity increased by 137 million cubic feet
- Europe Top 10 capacity increased by 251 million cubic feet
GCCA membership includes more than 1,300 temperature-controlled facilities and members in more than 80 countries. Warehouse members offer a range of logistics solutions, including storage, transportation, processing, blast freezing, exports, and more. A complete listing of all warehouse members can be found in the Global Cold Chain Directory, which is available for free online.
Visit gcca.org/directory/all for more information.
