The Cold Chain Federation (CCF) has warned that increasingly frequent spells of extreme heat across the UK are placing mounting pressure on the cold chain, the critical refrigerated storage and transport network that underpins around half of the nation’s food supply and a significant proportion of its pharmaceuticals.
The warning comes as climate change emerges as one of the most significant long-term risks to the resilience of essential food and pharmaceutical supply chains. The Federation notes that its members are being progressively challenged by more frequent extreme weather events, with high temperatures placing greater demand on refrigeration systems and raising the risk of equipment failures, product spoilage and wastage, from infrastructure not designed for sustained 40°C temperatures. These risks, combined with rising cyber-security threats, higher energy costs, market volatility and ongoing geopolitical pressures, highlight how vulnerable our food and pharmaceutical supply chains are.
The Cold Chain Federation’s recent white paper, The Critical Link, which launched in Westminster earlier this month, sets out in detail how the cold chain is critical to national resilience and security, with industry experts and academics warning of the immediate and significant consequences for food availability and pharmaceutical distribution, should this part of the supply chain be disrupted. Such impacts would ultimately be felt hardest and fastest by the country’s most vulnerable communities.
Whilst the sector is already investing in more efficient refrigeration systems, improved insulation, renewable energy solutions and smarter operational technologies, the CCF warns that government action is urgently needed to protect national supply chains and ensure that they are equipped for the future. Rising ambient temperatures will also increase reliance on temperature-controlled logistics in the years ahead, placing further demand on the system.
Tom Southall, Deputy Chief Executive at the Cold Chain Federation, outlined the need for government action to safeguard the UK’s food supply in the wake of rising threats:
“The UK’s critical cold chain sector is being rapidly challenged by an increasing range of threats that present a real risk of future disruption to the nation’s food and pharmaceutical supplies. Just last month the Climate Change Committee warned that climate conditions will expose vulnerabilities in the UK’s cold chains and that existing reactive measures for resilience in times of high heat will not be sufficient.
Businesses in the cold chain are committed to investing in adaptations, but they need support to keep pace with the speed of change. The Government must urgently do more to recognise the specific threat to cold chain businesses and support investment in infrastructure to ensure the nation’s food and pharmaceutical supplies remain secure.”
The Federation is calling for urgent government recognition of the cold chain as a core component of critical national infrastructure, alongside targeted support for long-term investment in resilience, innovation and energy security across the sector.
It argues that strengthening cold chain resilience is a critical element of the UK’s food and health security, national resilience and crisis preparedness.
For media enquiries related to this press release, please contact:
Tom Southall
Deputy Chief Executive, Cold Chain Federation
tom@coldchainfed.org.uk
07886 847522
www.coldchainfederation.org.uk
