ColdMatch Group · IQF Fruit & Vegetable Export Plant
IQF fruit & vegetable export plant — 50,000 t/yr engineering, budget & financing
A 50,000 t/year IQF fruit & vegetable export plant integrates blanching, IQF fluidised-bed freezing, sorting, retail packing and 8,000–15,000-pallet frozen storage into a bankable ECA/DFI-financed EPC package for export-oriented economies in Latin America, Africa, Central Asia and MENA.
50,000 t/yr IQF export plant with 10,000-pallet frozen store, EPC-built, ECA-financed.
Engineering
- 12,000–20,000 m² processing hall + cold storage on 3–5 ha with export logistics
- Reception, sorting, washing, blanching, IQF fluidised-bed freezing, packaging
- Central NH₃ plant sized 2–4 MW cooling; glycol secondary in processing hall
- 8,000–15,000-pallet frozen store (−22 °C) with double-deep racking
- BRC / IFS / ISO 22000 zoning, metal detection, foreign-body management
- Solar PV rooftop + heat recovery to blanching water (up to 90 °C)
Project budget
| Item | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Civil works, processing hall, cold store | $8M | $14M |
| Insulated panels, doors, floors | $4M | $7M |
| IQF freezers, blanchers | $6M | $12M |
| Central NH₃ plant (2–4 MW) | $5M | $10M |
| Racking, MHE, WMS | $3M | $6M |
| Processing lines, packaging | $5M | $12M |
| Utilities, effluent, boilers | $2M | $5M |
| Solar PV + heat recovery (optional) | $1M | $4M |
| EPC, engineering, commissioning | $3M | $6M |
$37M – $76M CAPEX
Equipment scope
- IQF fluidised-bed freezers, spiral freezers, blast tunnels
- Central NH₃ screw compressor plant with evap. condensers
- Steam blanchers, waterblanchers with heat recovery
- Sorting (optical), metal detectors, retail packers
- Double-deep racking with WMS/RFID
Power requirements
- Peak load3 – 7 MW
- Annual energy18 – 40 GWh/year
- GridDual-feed 11/33 kV
- BackupN+1 gensets 2 – 4 MW
- Solar PV (optional)2 – 5 MWp
Utilities
- Process water600 – 1,200 m³/day
- Effluent500 – 1,000 m³/day, DAF + biological
- Steam / hot waterHeat-recovery + gas boilers
Supplier matching
ColdMatch briefs 3–5 audited suppliers per package, benchmarks quotes on CAPEX / OPEX / lead time, and coordinates ECA + DFI financing across the shortlist.
Financing structure
- 50–70% senior debt from IFC / AfDB / IDB / EBRD / commercial banks
- ECA-covered equipment (IQF, refrigeration, packaging) from EU/US/JP/KR
- Sponsor equity 30–50%, agri-processing SEZ incentives, export credit
- Green tranche for NH₃ + solar + heat recovery + water reuse
ROI benchmarks
- Export revenue$70 – 180 M/year
- EBITDA margin18 – 28%
- Payback5 – 8 years
Timeline
- Feasibility, offtake, agronomy 3 – 5 months
- FEED & EPC RFP 4 – 7 months
- Financial close 4 – 8 months
- Construction & commissioning 16 – 24 months
Government incentives
- IFC, AfDB, IDB, EBRD and World Bank food-security & cold-chain financing at 5–8% with 10–20 year tenors
- Export credit agency (ECA) cover from Euler Hermes, SACE, UKEF, EDC, K-SURE and JBIC on EU/US/Japan/Korea equipment
- Blended finance and viability gap funding for national strategic reserves and rural cold chain
- SEZ / free-zone tax holidays (5–15 years) and import-duty waivers on refrigeration equipment
- Green Climate Fund / GEF concessional finance for natural-refrigerant and solar cold chain projects
Calculators
FAQ
How is IQF capacity sized?
Rule of thumb: 2,500–4,000 kg/h IQF per 10,000 t/yr of throughput at 6,000–7,000 hours/year and 60–70% seasonal utilisation. Include a spiral or blast alternate line for products IQF doesn't suit (leafy greens, blocks).
What frozen storage ratio to IQF throughput?
Benchmark 45–90 days of production in on-site frozen storage — for 50,000 t/yr that's 8,000–15,000 pallets, ideally double-deep to keep footprint tight.
How does ColdMatch source IQF plants?
We split the RFQ into IQF/freezers, refrigeration, insulated envelope, racking and processing packages, brief 3–5 audited EPCs and OEMs per package, and benchmark quotes vendor-neutrally within 3–4 weeks.
Structure your iqf fruit & vegetable export plant the ColdMatch way
One structured RFQ, vendor-neutral to shortlisted EPCs and OEMs. No commitment, no fees.