The International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW), a core partner of the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA), has released the association’s annual Global Top 25 List of the largest temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics members. Accompanying the IARW Global Top 25 is the IARW North American Top 25 List and a list of the largest operators in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Europe, reflecting the strength of the cold chain in both regions. The lists are determined by total capacity of temperature-controlled space in IARW membership.
IARW members currently own or operate 5.54 billion cubic feet (156.83 million cubic meters). A total capacity of 399.6 million cubic feet was added to the Global Top 25, as a result of growth and M&A activity.
“We continue to see the evolution of the Top 25 list as a result of consolidation due to mergers and acquisitions in the industry,” said GCCA President & CEO Corey Rosenbusch. “Each year, company rankings shift with new companies coming on the list, including companies that didn’t even exist a few years ago.
Additionally, Lineage Logistics’ acquisition of Preferred Freezer Services’ 390 million cubic feet is not reflected in this list as the transaction is not expected to be finalized until later this year. But the expected result of that acquisition is that Lineage will be 1.3 billion cubic feet and the largest operator in the world.
The Global Top 25 currently operates 4.24 billion cubic feet (120.15 million cubic meters). The North American Top 25 operates 3.17 billion cubic feet (88.49 million cubic meters). The European Top 10 operates 791.26 million cubic feet (22.40 million cubic meters). The Latin American Top 10 operates 241.67 million cubic feet (6.84 million cubic meters).
Regions worldwide reported increased capacity and several new companies joined IARW in the past year.
- Latin America increased by 6.22 million cubic feet
- Europe increased by 126.6 million cubic feet
- North America increased by 374.53 million cubic feet
- Global has increased by 399.6 million cubic feet
GCCA membership includes more than 1,300 temperature-controlled facilities and members in over 80 countries. Warehouse members offer a range of logistics solutions, including storage, transportation, processing, blast freezing, exports, and more. A complete listing of all warehouse members can be found in the Global Cold Chain Directory, which is available for free online. For more information, visit https://www.gcca.org/about/global-cold-chain-directory.