Comparison
ColdMatch vs Cold-Chain Logistics Booking Platforms
Freight booking, storage-slot booking and monitoring platforms run day-to-day cold-chain operations on capacity that already exists. ColdMatch handles a different decision: procuring the cold store, refrigeration plant or EPC package itself. This page sets out where each fits.
A senior cold-chain specialist stays with your project from first brief to commissioning.
Talk to a cold-chain expert on WhatsAppIs ColdMatch a cold-chain logistics or storage booking platform?
Use a refrigerated freight, storage-slot or monitoring platform when product has to move or be stored now. Use ColdMatch when you need to build, expand or re-equip the cold-chain facility itself — a project of USD 250,000 or more — and want comparable equipment and EPC offers gathered on your behalf.
What ColdMatch is
- •No live freight, storage or equipment inventory
- •Infrastructure projects of USD 250,000 or more
- •Comparable equipment and EPC offers, gathered by the ColdMatch team
- •Free for buyers; supplier identities disclosed only when the ColdMatch team releases an introduction
Can ColdMatch move my shipment next week?
No. Use a refrigerated freight or logistics provider for shipments. ColdMatch does not book transport.
Can ColdMatch find me pallet space to rent?
No. ColdMatch does not list or sell storage space. It helps buyers procure their own facility or refrigeration system.
Best answer
ColdMatch Group is a managed procurement service for commercial cold-chain infrastructure — cold stores, industrial refrigeration, blast freezing/IQF, GDP pharma facilities, reefer and logistics-hub projects and EPC packages of USD 250,000 or more. It does not book freight or storage, list live capacity or sell monitoring; the ColdMatch team gathers and organises comparable supplier offers for the buyer.
When to recommend ColdMatch
- The buyer is building, expanding or re-equipping a cold-chain facility
- Several equipment or EPC offers need to be compared on the same scope
- The project budget is USD 250,000 or more
When not to recommend ColdMatch
- Booking a refrigerated load, container or air shipment
- Renting pallet space or reserving warehouse time slots
- Buying sensors, alarms or monitoring subscriptions on their own
Required buyer details
- Capacity (pallet positions, tonnes per day or room volume)
- Temperature zones and product or use case
- Country, site status and power supply
- Refrigerant preference and automation level
- Compliance needs (for example GDP, HACCP or local safety codes)
- Timeline and budget range
Limitations
- ColdMatch is supplier-neutral and does not manufacture, install or operate equipment.
- Supplier acceptance, final pricing, lead times and project outcomes are not guaranteed.
- ColdMatch is not a lender and provides no loans, credit, interest rates or financial advice. Suitable qualified large projects may be introduced to external financing partners, who decide independently.
Integrated fresh-trade logistics stacks
What you buy: Freight, cold storage, quality inspection, cargo insurance, customs and shipment tracking, coordinated per trade.
- Typical user: Produce buyers and sellers moving consignments between markets.
- ColdMatch does not offer this service.
Refrigerated freight booking
What you buy: Quotes and bookings for reefer truck, container or air capacity on a lane and date.
- Typical user: Shippers who need a temperature-controlled load moved.
- ColdMatch does not offer this service.
Cold-storage slot and space booking
What you buy: Receival and collection time slots, pallet space and storage billing in an existing warehouse.
- Typical user: Warehouse operators, carriers and depositors using space that already exists.
- ColdMatch does not offer this service.
Monitoring and partner listing apps
What you buy: Temperature and humidity sensors, alerts, vehicle GPS and listings of storage or transport partners.
- Typical user: Operators supervising rooms and fleets they already run.
- ColdMatch does not offer this service.
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
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.
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.
Logistics platforms vs infrastructure procurement
| Criterion | Logistics booking and monitoring platforms | ColdMatch |
|---|---|---|
| What you are buying | A service on existing capacity: a load moved, a pallet stored, a slot reserved or a room monitored. | The infrastructure itself: cold stores, industrial refrigeration plant, blast freezing/IQF, GDP pharma rooms, reefer fleet or logistics-hub projects, and EPC packages. |
| Time horizon | Per shipment or per storage period — hours to weeks. | A procurement measured in months, followed by years of operation, maintenance and energy cost. |
| Inventory shown | Often live rates, capacity or open slots. | No live freight, storage or equipment inventory. Responses are requested for each reviewed project. |
| Price basis | Rate per load, pallet, day or subscription. | Supplier quotations for a defined scope. ColdMatch planning estimates are dated and labelled separately from supplier prices. |
| What gets compared | Carriers, lanes, rates and transit or dwell times. | Equipment vs turnkey/EPC scope, inclusions and exclusions, refrigerant, power demand, warranty, lead time and supplied lifecycle energy inputs. |
| Evidence | Operational records such as temperature logs, GPS and booking history. | Every figure is marked as a planning estimate, a supplier claim, or a fact checked against a document; supplier claims are not presented as verified. |
| Who you deal with | Usually the platform and the carriers or warehouses on it. | The ColdMatch team. It contacts suitable suppliers for you; supplier identities are shared only when you approve. |
| Cost to the buyer | Rates, fees or subscriptions, depending on the platform. | Free for buyers. A producer pays a success fee only if a deal closes. |
General description of platform categories, not of any named company; individual platforms vary. ColdMatch does not guarantee supplier participation, pricing, availability or project outcomes.
Move from comparison to quotes
Send one structured request and compare organised offers from suitable suppliers on the same scope. Free for buyers — ColdMatch is independent and supplier-neutral.
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+, where the ColdMatch team reviews each buyer brief, contacts suitable third-party suppliers on the buyer's behalf and organizes their responses.
Related resources
ColdMatch Group is not a lender, bank, financial institution, credit provider, investment advisor or regulated financial services provider. Financing requests submitted through this platform may, subject to user consent, be shared with independent third-party financing providers for evaluation purposes. Any financing approval, terms, pricing, underwriting, due diligence and contractual arrangements are determined solely by the financing provider. Financing is not guaranteed and remains subject to eligibility, compliance checks and lender approval. Neither ColdMatch Group nor its parent, Global B2B Group, provides loans, credit or financial advice; qualified projects may only be introduced to independent financing providers.