Market intelligence · Mozambique
Mozambique cold-chain market: dated evidence, gaps and operators
Mozambique's cold chain is thin where perishable buyers need it. An EU audit published in September 2024 listed 5 cold stores and 13 processing establishments approved for fishery exports to the EU, and a 2025 WorldFish study found one fish market's ice machine producing under half its rated output. Meanwhile WITS records 3.0 million kg of avocado exports in 2024. This page separates dated evidence from current status.
Sources checked 24 October 2026. Each figure keeps its own publication date and describes that time, not today's capacity.
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ColdMatch is a buyer-side procurement platform of Global B2B Group. It does not manufacture, import, export, certify or operate cold stores. Buyers submit one RFQ; the ColdMatch team reviews it and contacts suitable suppliers on the buyer's behalf. Managed sourcing serves projects from USD 250,000.
Dated evidence versus current status
What each source actually states, when it was published, and how a buyer should use it.
| Topic | What the source states | Source and date | What it means for a buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fishery establishments on the EU export list | 5 cold stores, 13 processing establishments, 7 factory vessels and 64 freezer vessels; figures supplied by INIP and aligned with TRACES-NT | EU DG SANTE audit 2023-7854, published 24 Sep 2024 | Counts EU-listed establishments only, not every licensed cold store in Mozambique. Check the current list before relying on it. |
| Official controls on fishery exports | Planned frequency of official controls was not met | DG SANTE, 24 Sep 2024 | EU listing is not proof of flawless oversight; plan your own temperature records and HACCP evidence. |
| Ice and freezing at an artisanal fish market (Chocas Mar) | Ice machine yields about 450 kg a day on three shifts against a 1,000 kg datasheet; freezer capacity insufficient; power cuts can last over 12 hours | WorldFish, 31 Mar 2025 | One surveyed site, not a national statistic. Ask for ice output at your site's ambient and water temperature, and size backup power. |
| Artisanal post-harvest fish losses | Losses 'have yet to be analyzed in detail', so only estimates exist | WorldFish, 31 Mar 2025 | Treat any quoted national loss percentage with caution. |
| Avocado exports (HS 080440) | 3,009,260 kg worth about 3.8 million US dollars; Netherlands 1,204,660 kg, South Africa 771,848 kg, United Kingdom 542,894 kg | World Bank WITS / UN Comtrade, data year 2024 | Recorded trade, not proof of current market access. Size pre-cooling and reefer capacity on your own volumes. |
| Avocado access to South Africa | Production sites, packhouses and storage facilities must be approved and registered annually by Mozambique's plant protection organisation (NPPO) | South African Department of Agriculture protocol (2025 directory; approval date not stated) | A packhouse or cold store in this trade needs annual NPPO registration in the project plan. |
| Lychee exports | Exports to the Netherlands, France and England generated over 3 million US dollars in the last season; no tonnage given | FreshPlaza, 3 Jan 2025 | Short-season fruit: cooling must cover the harvest peak, not the annual average. No growth rate is quoted here. |
| Chicken and eggs | About 135,000 t chicken and 29.8 million dozen eggs produced in the previous year; Jan–Sep 2025: 99,200 t chicken produced, 21,800 t chicken and 5.4 million dozen eggs imported | Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries, statement of 29 Oct 2025 | Production and import figures, not measured consumption. A self-sufficiency policy points to chilling, freezing and frozen storage — confirm volumes in your own plan. |
| Beira reefer yard | New yard with 64 reefer plugs beside an existing yard with 144; further totals were stated as plans | Freight News, 19 Sep 2024 | Planned expansions are not verified completed capacity; confirm plugs with the terminal for your season. |
| Electricity and cyclones | Cyclones 'routinely cause significant damage to electricity infrastructure'; Cyclone Freddy recovery funding covered transport and energy | IEA, 20 Oct 2025; World Bank, May 2023 | Specify backup autonomy, wind and flood design and corrosion protection for each site. |
ColdMatch summarises these sources; it did not measure them. Re-check each figure at the linked source before an investment decision.
Publicly documented cold-chain operators (market context)
Companies whose own website or a dated source describes a cold-chain role in Mozambique, checked 24 October 2026. They are not ColdMatch partners or recommended suppliers, ColdMatch has not audited them, and a listing says nothing about current capacity, certification or prices. No contact details are published: buyers submit one RFQ and the ColdMatch team approaches suitable suppliers.
| Operator | Role as published | Location | Evidence and date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFRIGOTEL – Armazenagem Frigorífica, S.A. | Refrigerated warehousing, logistics and refrigerated distribution | Zimpeto, Maputo | Company website (undated, active) | Current website |
| Matola Cargo Terminal (MCT) | Cold-room warehousing; company states three 850 m² cold rooms cooling down to +1 °C | Matola | Company website (undated, active) | Current website |
| Cornelder de Moçambique | Port terminal operator; built a new reefer yard | Port of Beira | Freight News, 19 Sep 2024 | Current (2024) |
| DP World Maputo | Container terminal offering reefer handling and monitoring | Port of Maputo | Company website (undated, active) | Current website |
| FRIP | Seafood catching with onboard processing and freezing; integrated cold chain with a Maputo hub | Maputo (group based in Portugal) | Company website (undated, active) | Current website; local entity not confirmed |
| Krustamoz (Crustáceos de Mozambique Ltda.) | Fishing fleet with onboard deep-freezing | Quelimane; office in Maputo | Group website (undated, active) | Current website |
| Novos Horizontes (New Horizons Mozambique) | Integrated chicken production; fresh and frozen chicken sales | Nampula | FCID project page, updated 12 Jun 2024 | Current (2024) |
| Higest | Feed, day-old chicks and frozen chicken | Machava, Matola | Petersime case study, 19 Jan 2015 | Older evidence only (2015) |
| Westfalia Fruto Moçambique | Avocado and litchi production and export | Sussundenga and Catandica, Manica | Westfalia Fruit news, 1 Jan 2021 | Older evidence only (2021) |
| IBLTS | Warehousing, container depot and logistics | Beira | Company website (undated, active) | Current website; cold-chain scope not confirmed |
| ProAir Africa | Refrigeration design, installation, repair and maintenance serving Mozambique | Based in East London, South Africa | Company website (undated, active) | Current website; local branch not confirmed |
| Refair | Commercial refrigeration installation and maintenance, with installations in Mozambique | Based in Durban, South Africa | Company website (undated, active) | Current website; local office not confirmed |
No standalone ice producer could be sourced to the same standard, so none is listed. Represent one of these companies or spotted an error? Tell us through the contact page and we will re-check.
Seafood: few EU-listed cold stores, fragile ice and power at landing sites
The 2024 EU audit is the clearest dated count: 5 cold stores and 13 processing establishments on the EU export list, figures supplied by INIP (Instituto Nacional de Inspecção do Pescado). That is the export-approved tier, not the whole country. At the artisanal end, WorldFish's 2025 case study of the Chocas Mar market recorded insufficient freezer capacity, no generator backup and power cuts of more than 12 hours. ProAzul's 2023 handling manual states that processed fish is stored in cold rooms to keep quality and freshness.
- Ice plant tenders should state output at local ambient and water temperature, not the datasheet figure
- Backup power and hold-over time decide whether a fish cold store survives an outage
- EU export ambitions require INIP inspection and EU listing; plan the timeline for that separately from construction
Fruit: avocado and lychee exports need fast cooling at harvest
WITS records 3,009,260 kg of avocado exports from Mozambique in 2024, mainly to the Netherlands, South Africa and the United Kingdom. FreshPlaza (January 2025) reported lychee exports to the Netherlands, France and England worth over 3 million US dollars in the last season, without tonnage. Westfalia reported a 250 ha avocado orchard at Zembe Farm in Sussundenga and a farm in Catandica in 2021, and first litchi exports to the EU in 2014; Fruitnet reported in 2021 that support included a sulphur-free lychee preservation machine for the packhouse. We found no verified lychee volume series, so no growth rate is claimed.
- Avocado shipments to South Africa require packhouses and storage facilities registered annually by Mozambique's NPPO
- Size pre-cooling for the harvest-week peak and state target pulp temperature and cooling time
- Destination-market rules on post-harvest treatments must be confirmed by the exporter
Chicken and eggs: a self-sufficiency push with imports still filling demand
The Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries reported about 135,000 tonnes of chicken and 29.8 million dozen eggs produced in the previous year, and for January–September 2025 imports of 21,800 tonnes of chicken and 5.4 million dozen eggs, as it finalises a poultry master plan. Poultry News Africa reported in May 2024 that imports from avian-influenza-free South African compartments resumed. FAO's 2013 review noted that some farmers already had slaughterhouses and cold storage on farm. Current import rules must be confirmed with the authorities.
- Integrated producers such as Novos Horizontes in Nampula sell fresh and frozen chicken (FCID, 2024)
- No Mozambique-specific table-egg storage temperature rule was verified; state your market's rule in the RFQ
- Keep hatching eggs and table eggs separate in scope — they are different cold-chain problems
Ports, corridors and power
DP World describes reefer handling and monitoring at the Maputo container terminal. In Beira, Cornelder built a new 64-plug reefer yard next to an existing 144-plug yard (Freight News, September 2024); larger totals were reported as plans. Portos do Norte states that Nacala operates 24 hours a day without tidal restrictions, but we found no published reefer-plug count. The IEA (October 2025) notes cyclones routinely damage electricity infrastructure, and the World Bank funded energy and transport recovery after Cyclone Freddy in 2023.
- Confirm plug availability and dwell time with the terminal for your shipping window
- Specify generator or battery autonomy, automatic transfer and alarm escalation
- State wind, flood and corrosion design criteria for coastal sites
Institutions buyers should confirm with
Mozambique's foreign-trade portal lists INIP for fish inspection, the Autoridade Tributária (Direcção Nacional das Alfândegas) for customs and INNOQ for standards. The Departamento de Sanidade Vegetal is the plant protection organisation that issues phytosanitary licences and certificates for plant-product imports and exports. These listings confirm institutional relevance, not specific equipment obligations; ask each institution for the requirements in force for your project.
Where ColdMatch fits
ColdMatch helps buyers turn this evidence into one comparable project brief for cold stores, ice plants, packhouse cooling, freezing and refrigerated distribution. Buyer tools and guides are free; managed sourcing serves projects from USD 250,000, and requests below that receive self-serve resources. ColdMatch never shares supplier or buyer contact details directly and does not trade the commodities themselves.
How to turn this evidence into a project request
- Pick the facility type and site: landing site, packhouse, poultry plant or distribution hub.
- Write down volumes at peak, product temperatures and the export market you serve.
- Add site conditions: grid supply, backup autonomy, water for ice, flood and wind exposure.
- Use the RFQ requirements guide to complete the brief, then submit one RFQ to ColdMatch.
- The ColdMatch team reviews the brief, contacts suitable suppliers and presents organised responses.
Related Global B2B Group platforms
- Global B2B Group
Buying seafood, chicken, eggs or fruit themselves? Source commodities through Global B2B Group with a team-reviewed buyer RFQ.
- FishMatch Group
Fish or shrimp farming and hatchery projects are handled by FishMatch.
- HatchMatch Group
Poultry houses, hatcheries and egg-production projects are handled by HatchMatch.
Related ColdMatch resources
Frequently asked questions
How many fish cold stores are there in Mozambique?
We found no verified current national total. The EU audit published on 24 September 2024 listed 5 cold stores and 13 processing establishments approved for fishery exports to the EU, based on INIP figures. Licensed domestic cold stores outside that list are not counted there.
Is there an ice shortage for Mozambican fisheries?
There is no verified national ice-deficit figure. A WorldFish study from March 2025 found that one market's ice machine produced about 450 kg a day on three shifts against a 1,000 kg rating, with power cuts over 12 hours. It shows why ice output and backup power must be specified per site.
Are Mozambique's avocado and lychee exports growing?
WITS records 3,009,260 kg of avocado exports in 2024, and FreshPlaza reported lychee exports worth over 3 million US dollars in the last season (January 2025). We found no verified multi-year lychee series, so we do not quote a growth rate.
Does Mozambique still import chicken and eggs?
Yes, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries: 21,800 tonnes of chicken and 5.4 million dozen eggs were imported between January and September 2025, while production reached 99,200 tonnes of chicken in the same period.
Are the companies listed ColdMatch suppliers or partners?
No. They are publicly documented operators listed as market context, with source dates and status. ColdMatch has not audited them, publishes no contact details, and approaches suppliers only after reviewing a buyer's RFQ.
What project size does ColdMatch handle in Mozambique?
Managed sourcing serves commercial projects from USD 250,000 and is free for buyers. Smaller requests are still recorded and pointed to the free planning tools and guides.