Cold room project case study in Brazil: Poultry chilling, freezing and 2,000-pallet frozen store, Paraná
A processing expansion required matched chilling, freezing and storage capacity, with export-market hygiene and traceability requirements applied from the first drawing.
A 2,000-pallet −18 to −25 °c frozen facility in Brazil of roughly 9,000 m³, built with ammonia (r717) industrial plant, models at about USD 11,580,388 installed (USD 9,264,310–USD 15,054,504 planning range) and USD 1,097,420 a year to run, over a 68-week programme from brief to handover. Figures are indicative planning estimates from ColdMatch Group's country cost model — not a quotation.
A senior cold-chain specialist stays with your project from first brief to commissioning.
What was built, and for whom
Hot and humid — higher defrost energy and infiltration load
~120 generator hours modelled per year
Local band 0.090–0.170 USD/kWh
Zones
- Air chilling hall for carcass pull-down
- Spiral and tunnel freezing to −18 °C core
- Frozen store −22 °C, 2,000 pallets with pallet shuttle
What a project like this costs in Brazil
Derived from the same indicative country cost model used by the public ColdMatch calculators: local construction cost index, design ambient, humidity, grid reliability, diesel price and electricity tariff. Planning-grade estimates, never a quotation.
Planning range USD 9,264,310–USD 15,054,504
USD 1,287 per m³
46% of it is energy
464 kW average refrigeration load
| Envelope, plant, electrical and installation | USD 8,129,344 |
| Standby generation | USD 569,054 |
| Monitoring and alarms | USD 36,720 |
| Automation / storage systems | USD 2,845,270 |
| Total installed | USD 11,580,388 |
| Grid electricity (4,067,192 kWh) | USD 488,063 |
| Standby diesel (13,260 litres) | USD 13,923 |
| Maintenance and spares | USD 352,044 |
| Operations labour (18 staff) | USD 239,400 |
| Monitoring and compliance | USD 3,990 |
| Total per year | USD 1,097,420 |
Running the same facility on legacy fixed-speed plant models at USD 1,360,657 a year — about USD 263,237 more, which is the efficiency decision this project turned on.
What made this project difficult in Brazil
These are the local realities that change the design, the price and the supplier shortlist.
- Export approvals demand hygienic design and documented cleaning access
- Ammonia charge and machine-room safety compliance
- Energy cost per tonne is a competitiveness metric in this sector
The decisions that shaped the result
- Two-stage ammonia plant with heat recovery for wash-down water
- Automation in the frozen store to cut door-open time and labour in cold conditions
- Energy metering per process step so cost per tonne is measurable
Programme: about 68 weeks from brief to handover
Phases overlap in practice. This sequence shows where the schedule risk sits in this market.
- 1
Brief and feasibility
Weeks 1–3 · 3 weeksProduct, temperature, capacity, site status, electrical supply, budget band and timeline confirmed. ColdMatch reviews the brief and flags missing data before anyone is approached.
- 2
Concept design and RFQ preparation
Weeks 4–7 · 4 weeksZone layout, load estimate, system shortlist and a single bid form so every supplier quotes identical scope, exclusions and assumptions.
- 3
Supplier review and tendering
Weeks 8–13 · 6 weeksSuitable suppliers are approached only after internal approval, then proposals are normalised on scope, energy assumptions, spares, commissioning and warranty.
- 4
Civil works and building envelope
Weeks 14–33 · 20 weeksSlab, drainage, docks and structure, including under-floor heating detail where freezer rooms sit on grade.
- 5
Equipment manufacture and delivery
Weeks 34–49 · 16 weeksPlant and panel manufacture with delivery sequenced to the installation programme.
- 6
Installation and insulation
Weeks 50–63 · 14 weeksPanel erection, pipework, electrical and automation installation with a written interface responsibility matrix between refrigeration and automation scopes.
- 7
Commissioning, pull-down and handover
Weeks 64–68 · 5 weeksLeak and pressure testing, staged pull-down, performance verification against the specified duty, operator training, spares handover and documentation.
What the project delivered
- Chilling, freezing and storage capacity matched to the new line rate
- Wash-down hot water largely supplied by heat recovery
- Energy cost per tonne tracked as a KPI from commissioning
What buyers in this market should take from it
- Match chilling, freezing and storage in one design — a bottleneck anywhere wastes the whole investment
- Heat recovery is usually the fastest payback item in a meat plant
Tools and market data for Brazil
Change the capacity, temperature and system and the numbers above move. These tools use the same country model.
Cold storage project costs and timelines in Brazil
How ColdMatch Group works — independent B2B procurement and sourcing platform — ColdMatch Group is an independent B2B procurement and sourcing platform for industrial refrigeration, cold storage and cold-chain projects from USD $250K+, connecting buyers with qualified third-party suppliers, EPC contractors and independent financing providers.
Have a comparable project in Brazil?
Submit your product type, temperatures, capacity, site status, power situation, budget band and timeline. David and the ColdMatch team review the brief, structure the RFQ so every supplier quotes the same scope, and approach suitable suppliers only after internal approval.
This is a worked project example built from ColdMatch Group's indicative country cost model — local electricity tariff, design ambient, humidity, grid reliability and construction cost index. It is a planning-grade illustration, not a client transaction, an engineering design or a quotation. Supplier and manufacturer listings on this site are provided for research, transparency and discovery only. ColdMatch Group does not provide automatic buyer-supplier introductions. Every cold chain project request is reviewed manually by David / ColdMatch Group, and supplier introductions are made only after internal approval.
Supplier and manufacturer listings are provided for research, transparency and discovery only. ColdMatch Group does not provide automatic buyer-supplier introductions. Every cold chain project request is reviewed manually by David / ColdMatch Group, and supplier introductions are made only after internal approval.