Kyiv, Ukraine: The Ukrainian Cold Chain Association (UCCA) has said that the Ukrainian market of frozen and chilled product logistics will consolidate in 2012.
“This year the cold chain market should seriously consolidate,” UCCA Board Chairman Yeven Holub said at a press conference in Kyiv.
He said that the process could go one of two ways: large retail chains will create distribution centers for frozen and chilled food, or producers will be able to merge their chains. Holub said the latter would allow food producers not to depend on retail chains and reduce logistics expenses by around 25%. Holub said that several retail chains are on the verge introducing centralised deliveries of frozen and chilled food.
Commenting on the cold chain market as a whole, Holub said that there are no national operators in the market in Ukraine. He said those food producers that mainly operate on the cold chain market try to optimise expenses and provide services in the delivery and storage of food to other organizations. Holub added that often it is difficult to describe such cold chain services as being of high quality and efficient.
Holub said that cold chains could be divided into two types – of high quality and of low quality. The first occupies one third of the cold chain market. He said that its share could expand due to the tougher requirements that retail chains demand of food suppliers.
The UCCA was founded in 2011. It has 35 members. The UCCA is the industry’s professional alliance of manufacturers and distributors of chilled and frozen goods, refrigeration equipment suppliers, logistics operators, refrigerated warehouse owners, transport companies and retail chains in Ukraine.
