How long does a cold storage RFQ take with ColdMatch?

In these cases, scope intake to award ran roughly 8 to 9 weeks: one to two weeks to fix the design basis, a week to pre-qualify suppliers, three weeks in the market, one week of normalisation, then award. Projects with validation requirements or parallel financing sit at the longer end.

Why do bids need to be normalised before comparison?

Raw compliant bids on the same project commonly span 25 to 35%. Most of that gap is scope — excluded electrical infeed, floor heating, validation, commissioning or spares — rather than genuine price difference. Once exclusions are priced onto one scope, spreads in these cases narrowed to around 10 to 13%.

Which calculators should I run before issuing a cold storage RFQ?

Start with capacity and load so the duty in the RFQ is defensible, then run total cost of ownership so energy and service are part of the decision. Pharma projects add the redundancy planner; processing projects add blast freezer and energy tools. Each case above lists the calculators used for that audience.

Does ColdMatch charge buyers for this process?

No. ColdMatch is free for buyers and supplier-neutral. It structures your RFQ, pre-qualifies suppliers for your temperature bands and geography, and normalises the proposals. Engineering, construction and compliance remain with the appointed contractors and your own advisers.

Sourcing evidence

Cold storage sourcing case studies: RFQ timeline, decisions and outcomes

Q: Are these cold storage sourcing case studies real projects?

They are anonymised and generalised from representative procurements: a frozen and chilled distribution expansion, a first GDP-compliant pharmaceutical store, and an agri-processor adding blast freezing with solar support. Buyer names, sites and contract values are removed, and all figures are indicative of comparable projects rather than quotations or guaranteed outcomes.

Three anonymised cold storage procurements — a frozen and chilled distribution hub, a first GDP-compliant pharmaceutical store, and an agri-processor adding blast freezing with solar support. Each shows what the buyer faced before the tender, how the RFQ was structured week by week, and the calculators that produced the numbers behind the specification.

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Short answer

In all three cases the outcome was decided before the bids arrived: the buyer fixed capacity, duty and redundancy with calculators, wrote one RFQ with named exclusions, and only then compared price. Scope intake to award ran roughly 8–9 weeks, and normalising exclusions cut apparent bid spreads from about 28–34% down to 11–13% of genuine difference.

1. How to read these case studies

Each case follows the same structure so you can map it onto your own project.

Audience: the buyer type the case is most relevant to
Before: the sourcing problem that triggered a structured RFQ
Approach and timeline: how the tender was built, week by week
After: the outcome once bids were normalised and the award was made
Calculators: the tools that produced the duty, capacity and cost figures

2. What repeats across all three

Different temperatures, different regions, different budgets — the same three disciplines.

Numbers before suppliers: capacity, kW duty and redundancy modelled first, so the RFQ is defensible
Exclusions named in the RFQ, not discovered at clarification stage
Award on lifecycle cost, service coverage and compliance — never on the lowest lump sum

3. Apply the same workflow

The workflow behind these cases is available to any buyer, free and supplier-neutral.

Run the calculators listed in the case closest to your project
Build the RFQ pack and check it with the RFQ readiness score
Pre-qualify suppliers on comparable references, temperature band and local service
Normalise the returned bids before opening a commercial conversation

Who this is for and how ColdMatch works

Best for

Commercial and industrial cold chain projects, typically from USD 250,000 upward: cold rooms, refrigerated warehouses, blast freezers, processing plant refrigeration and distribution hubs.

Not a fit: domestic refrigerators, household or office air conditioning, small repair call-outs, or spare-parts-only enquiries.

Typical cold chain project types

Fruit, vegetable and horticulture cold storage with pre-cooling
Meat, poultry and fish chilling plus blast freezing
Dairy and beverage process cooling
Pharma and vaccine GDP cold chain (2–8 °C, −20 °C, −70 °C)
Refrigerated warehouses, 3PL hubs and mobile cold rooms

Cold room vs refrigerated warehouse

A cold room is a single insulated chamber, usually under ~500 m³, serving one process or storage step. A refrigerated warehouse is a multi-zone facility with racking, docks, air locks and a central refrigeration plant, sized by pallet positions and daily throughput rather than by room volume.

What affects project cost

Storage volume, pallet positions and daily throughput
Target temperature and ambient design conditions
Refrigerant choice (NH₃, CO₂, HFC) and plant redundancy
Panel thickness, doors, air locks and civil works
Backup power, solar, freight, duties and commissioning

Temperature range checklist

+12 to +16 °C — bananas, potatoes, curing
+2 to +8 °C — pharma GDP, dairy, fresh produce
0 to +4 °C — meat, fish and chilled distribution
−18 to −25 °C — frozen storage
−35 to −40 °C — blast freezing and IQF

RFQ checklist

Product, temperature and daily intake
Room dimensions or required pallet positions
Site location, ambient conditions and power supply
Backup autonomy and redundancy level
Budget range, timeline and scope exclusions

Build your RFQ →

Supplier matching process

You define the project once — capacity, temperature and technical requirements. ColdMatch structures it into a supplier-ready RFQ, reviews it with a human specialist, then approaches suitable refrigeration manufacturers, EPC contractors and installers. Offers come back normalised so scope, price and lead time are comparable.

See the RFQ process → · Talk to a specialist →

Buyer is not charged

Using ColdMatch to scope a project, run calculators and receive supplier quotations is free for buyers. ColdMatch helps buyers compare suppliers and request quotes; it is an intermediary and does not manufacture equipment, install systems, or provide financing directly. Costs shown are indicative planning figures — only supplier quotations are binding.

Cold chain project types, temperatures and budgets

Use these reference clusters to place a project before contacting suppliers. Figures are indicative planning ranges for commercial and industrial projects from USD 250,000 upward — only supplier quotations are binding.

Project type cluster

Agriculture and horticulture cold storage: Pre-cooling plus storage for fruit, vegetables and flowers, usually +2 to +12 °C with high humidity control and fast pull-down after harvest. Sized by daily intake in tonnes, not only by room volume.
Meat, poultry and fish cold storage: Chilling at 0 to +4 °C combined with blast freezing at −35 to −40 °C and frozen holding at −18 to −25 °C. Hygienic panels, drainage and separate dirty/clean flows are part of scope.
Pharmaceutical and API cold storage: GDP-compliant 2–8 °C rooms, −20 °C and, for some active pharmaceutical ingredients and biologics, −70 °C. Requires mapping, IQ/OQ/PQ, N+1 refrigeration, backup power and alarm escalation.
Refrigerated warehouse and 3PL distribution: Multi-zone facilities sized by pallet positions, dock doors and daily throughput. Typical scope covers racking, air locks, dock levellers, a central plant and an energy strategy.
Food processing plant refrigeration: Process cooling, chillers, spiral or tunnel freezers and glycol loops integrated with production lines. Usually specified alongside ISO 22000 and HACCP food safety requirements.
Mobile and containerised cold rooms: Plug-and-play 20 ft or 40 ft refrigerated units for seasonal peaks, remote sites and temporary capacity, typically −25 to +8 °C with optional solar or generator support.

Temperature range cluster

Range	Typical use
+12 to +16 °C	Bananas, potatoes, onions, curing and ripening rooms
+8 to +12 °C	Tropical fruit and chill-sensitive produce
+2 to +8 °C	Pharma GDP storage, vaccines, dairy, fresh produce
0 to +4 °C	Meat, fish and chilled distribution
−18 to −25 °C	Frozen food storage and frozen distribution hubs
−35 to −40 °C	Blast freezing, IQF tunnels and spiral freezers
−70 °C and below	Biologics, clinical trial material and ultra-low pharma

Budget band cluster

USD 250K – 750K: Single or twin cold rooms, a small blast freezer, or a containerised installation with basic backup power.
USD 750K – 2M: Multi-zone cold store of roughly 500–1,500 m² with racking, dock doors, a packaged plant and a generator.
USD 2M – 8M: Refrigerated warehouse or processing plant refrigeration with NH₃ or CO₂ central plant, redundancy and automation.
USD 8M – 100M+: Turnkey distribution hubs, national cold chain programmes and multi-site pharma or export infrastructure.

Estimate cooling load → · Build a supplier-ready RFQ →

Three anonymised cold-storage sourcing case studies

Each case shows the situation before the tender, how the RFQ was structured, the ColdMatch timeline from scope intake to award, and the outcomes — plus the calculators that produced the numbers behind the specification.

Food distributors and 3PL operators

Case 1 — Frozen and chilled distribution hub expansion

Regional food distributor adding 4,200 pallet positions across −25 °C frozen and +2/+4 °C chilled zones on an existing site. Budget band USD $2.5M–$4.5M.

Before

Two informal quotations from contractors already known to the operations team, with different pallet assumptions
No agreed design basis: storage temperature, throughput and door traffic were never written down
Energy cost excluded from the comparison entirely, despite a 15-year hold on the site
Programme slipping because civil works and refrigeration were being priced by different parties on different scopes

After

5 compliant proposals returned; raw spread of roughly 28% narrowed to about 11% after normalisation
Two low bids had excluded floor heating and the electrical infeed — around USD $180K–$260K of scope
Award on the second-lowest normalised offer, with a 3-year service agreement inside the base price
Modelled annual energy roughly 14% below the incumbent design after evaporator and part-load optimisation

Sourcing approach

Capacity and load fixed first using the warehouse capacity planner and refrigeration load calculator
One RFQ pack issued to 6 pre-qualified suppliers: same duty, same racking density, same ambient design day
Exclusions (electrical infeed, sprinklers, floor heating, commissioning) priced as named line items rather than assumed
Bids normalised in the bid comparison tool, then scored on 10-year cost, not lump sum

ColdMatch RFQ timeline

Week 0Scope intake. Capacity, temperature bands, throughput and site constraints captured in the RFQ builder. Warehouse capacity planner
Week 1Design basis locked. Load and capacity outputs attached to the RFQ so every supplier prices the same plant. Refrigeration load calculator
Week 1–2Supplier shortlist. 6 suppliers pre-qualified on comparable frozen-distribution references and local service coverage. Cold storage health check
Week 2RFQ issued. Identical pack, identical exclusion list, identical response format and deadline. RFQ readiness score
Week 5Bids returned. Clarification round closed; non-compliances listed back to each bidder in writing. Technical specification builder
Week 6Normalisation. Exclusions priced in, bids restated onto one scope in the bid comparison tool. Refrigeration bid comparison
Week 8Award. Technical compliance confirmed first, commercial decision taken on 10-year cost. Refrigeration TCO calculator

Calculators for this audience

Warehouse capacity planner

Convert pallet targets into usable m³ and footprint before pricing anything.

Refrigeration load calculator

Fix the kW duty per temperature zone that the RFQ is written around.

Refrigeration TCO calculator

Compare 10-year energy, service and spares instead of headline CAPEX.

Refrigeration bid comparison

Normalise exclusions so proposals are finally comparable.

Pharma, biotech and healthcare distributors

Case 2 — GDP-compliant pharmaceutical store, first build

Wholesaler licensing its first GDP store: +2/+8 °C and +15/+25 °C CRT zones plus a small −20 °C quarantine room. Budget band USD $700K–$1.4M.

Before

A single turnkey proposal covering everything, with validation and monitoring buried in one line
No redundancy strategy: the offered design failed on a single compressor loss
Qualification responsibilities undefined between supplier, buyer QA and the independent consultant
Standby power sized for lighting only, not for the refrigeration load

After

All 4 proposals returned technically compliant after one clarification round
Validation and monitoring, previously invisible, resolved to roughly 9–13% of project value
Standby generator resized to carry full refrigeration load; hold-test acceptance written into the contract
Licence inspection passed at first attempt with the mapping report and alarm log as evidence

Sourcing approach

URS written before suppliers were approached, with temperature bands, hold time and alarm escalation stated
Redundancy modelled with the redundancy planner so N+1 was specified, not negotiated later
Validation split explicitly: IQ/OQ with the supplier, PQ and mapping with an independent consultant, priced as options
4 suppliers with demonstrable GDP references invited; monitoring and calibration priced separately

ColdMatch RFQ timeline

Week 0Requirement capture. Temperature bands, product value, hold time and regulatory expectation documented. Pharmaceutical cold room calculator
Week 1–2URS and redundancy. Buyer-owned URS plus N+1 architecture agreed before any supplier contact. Pharma redundancy planner
Week 2Supplier pre-qualification. GDP references, calibration capability and local response times checked. Country compliance checklist
Week 3RFQ issued. Validation, monitoring and calibration as separately priced, named options. RFQ readiness score
Week 6Technical review. Compliance against the URS scored before any price was opened. Technical specification builder
Week 7Normalised comparison. Options added back on a like-for-like basis across all four bidders. Refrigeration bid comparison
Week 9Award and qualification plan. Contract signed with the validation split and hold test as acceptance criteria. Pharma cold storage energy calculator

Calculators for this audience

Pharmaceutical cold room calculator

Size GDP-compliant rooms per temperature band before drafting the URS.

Pharma refrigeration redundancy planner

Decide N+1 vs 2N and standby power on evidence, not supplier preference.

Pharma cold storage energy calculator

Estimate running cost for continuously operating validated rooms.

RFQ readiness score

Check the pack is complete enough to produce comparable bids.

Food processors and agribusiness in emerging markets

Case 3 — Agri-processor adding blast freezing and solar support

Fruit and fish processor adding blast freezing plus a −25 °C holding store, on an unreliable grid with high diesel cost. Budget band USD $600K–$1.5M.

Before

Blast capacity quoted in tonnes/day with no stated pull-down time or entry temperature
Diesel generator running several hours a day, with no measured energy baseline
Suppliers offering incompatible refrigerants with no lifecycle comparison
Financing conversations starting only after equipment selection, delaying the order

After

Blast cycle specified as a guaranteed performance figure, tested at commissioning
Solar-assisted design cut modelled diesel hours by roughly a third at the same production volume
Regional supplier won on service coverage and spares availability despite not being the cheapest
Order placed roughly 6 weeks earlier than the previous project because funding ran in parallel

Sourcing approach

Blast duty defined by product, entry and target core temperature, and required batch cycle time
Electricity and solar options modelled before the RFQ so the energy scope was part of the tender
3 international and 2 regional suppliers invited, with local service coverage as a scored criterion
Financing pre-qualification run in parallel with the technical evaluation, not after it

ColdMatch RFQ timeline

Week 0Production profile. Tonnage, entry temperature, batch cycle and seasonality captured up front. Fish & seafood cold storage calculator
Week 1Blast and energy modelling. Freezer duty and energy/solar options quantified before supplier contact. Blast freezer cost calculator
Week 2RFQ issued. Performance-based specification: guaranteed pull-down, not equipment lists. Technical specification builder
Week 2–5Financing in parallel. Pre-qualification and indicative structures explored while bids were in the market. Financing eligibility calculator
Week 5Bids returned. Performance guarantees, refrigerant choice and service coverage compared side by side. Solar refrigeration savings calculator
Week 7Normalisation and scoring. Lifecycle cost including energy and spares, weighted against service reach. Refrigeration bid comparison
Week 9Award. Contract signed with commissioning performance tests as acceptance criteria. Electricity cost calculator

Calculators for this audience

Blast freezer cost calculator

Turn tonnage and pull-down time into a defensible blast duty and budget.

Solar refrigeration savings calculator

Quantify diesel displacement before putting solar into the tender.

Electricity cost calculator

Baseline running cost so energy is compared, not assumed.

Financing eligibility calculator

Run funding in parallel with the RFQ instead of after award.

Run your project the same way

ColdMatch fixes your design basis, pre-qualifies suppliers for your temperature bands and geography, issues one comparable RFQ and normalises the proposals — free for buyers, supplier-neutral.

Build a free RFQ Compare existing bids

Case studies are anonymised and generalised for buyer guidance. Budget bands, bid spreads, programmes and savings are indicative of comparable projects and are not quotations, benchmarks or guaranteed outcomes. ColdMatch Group is a supplier-neutral procurement platform and does not act as an EPC contractor or equipment manufacturer.

Move from comparison to quotes

Send one structured request and compare like-for-like offers from qualified suppliers. Free for buyers — ColdMatch is independent and supplier-neutral.

Start RFQ Guided RFQ builder — capacity, temperature, power and timeline in a few minutes.Refrigeration TCO calculator Compare CAPEX against 10-year energy, maintenance and downtime cost before you award.

Frequently asked questions

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.

Related resources

How ColdMatch works Cold storage RFQ checklist How to compare cold storage quotations Hidden costs in cold storage quotations Refrigeration bid comparison tool Refrigeration TCO calculator Warehouse capacity planner Pharma cold storage EPC guide Ammonia procurement case studies Build a free RFQ

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