India’s 135 cold chain logistics firms are working at a feverish pitch to ready themselves for the spike in festive demand. The rise in orders this year of frozen desserts, dairy products, ready-to-eat products and mithai, Sameer Varma, executive director, ColdStar, believes, could be about 20-25% more -than usual festive jump. That’s thanks to the increasing capacity at quick commerce platforms, which deliver in 10-15 minutes. Swarup Bose, founder and CEO, Celcius Logistics, said the growth is being fuelled not only by established brands but also by the expansion into new markets and the entry of smaller brands from Tier 2 cities into Tier 1 cities. The big concern now is a possible shortage of reefer vehicles or refrigerated vehicles.
Unprecedented festive demand
Chandrakala Bobba, director, Bobba Group, says the festive rush this year coincides with more consumer spending and a shift towards convenience. His firm has come up with a ‘Pay As You Store’ model which gives brands the flexibility to pay only for the days and space they actually use. This, the firm believes, makes festive scaling seamless, without being locked into long-term commitments.
Managing the temperature across the supply chain as also last-mile coordination, when the demand spikes, is not easy. “To overcome this, Bobba Group has built in buffer capacity at its Cold Zone facilities and on-boarded additional manpower. “Our distribution hub serves as a central point for storing and distributing goods, strategically located near the airport and city hubs,” Bobba added. This gives the firm a faster turnaround time, smoother last-mile connectivity, and the ability to handle sudden surges.
Pivotal role of technology and efficiency
These firms must leverage comprehensive tech that manages the entire cold chain ecosystem, particularly to cater to quick commerce, which relies heavily on speed. For instance, asset-light cold chain marketplace, Celcius Logistics, which works with over 600 clients, including Zepto, Blinkit, Zomato, Amazon and Flipkart, has integrated transport, warehouse and inventory management solutions into its platform. This allows quick commerce partners to seamlessly book trucks and warehouses, track inventory health, manage dispatches, and monitor stock levels in real time, much like a sophisticated ERP (enterprise resource planning) system.
Predictive demand planning, predictive replenishment analysis for fast-moving SKUs (stock keeping units) and real-time vehicle tracking are critical during peak seasons. Equally important is maintaining the temperature at required levels and monitoring humidity at sites. That apart, companies need to proactively course correct while making sure they optimise on routes so as to minimize the exposure of products to the heat. Pranik Logistics, a firm that offers refrigerated logistics to Blinkit, Zomato, Nestle, among others, addresses this issue with advanced fleet tie-ups and a cross-trained workforce capable of managing multi-temperature consignments seamlessly.
Pranav Kumar Sonthalia, managing director, Pranik Logistics, said that the firm maintains a network of refrigerated vehicles with multi-temperature capabilities, including 20°C for frozen goods, 2°C–8°C for perishable dairy and fresh produce, and ambient-controlled for other products. And, to handle the festive surge, it pre-contracts an additional 30–40% reefer capacity. Additionally, reefer vehicles consume significantly more fuel during intensive operations. To counter this, the firm is investing in fuel-efficient reefer units and route optimisation technology, balancing service reliability with operational efficiency.
Sameer Varma, executive director, ColdStar, said balancing speed with accuracy and the safety of the product is critical. “Over the last decade, we have proactively used differentiated management and replenishment plans to tackle weather-related issues,” Varma said.
Celcius Logistics, for instance, has been onboarding riders who are trained specifically to handle temperature-sensitive products and has more than doubled the team at the last-mile division to 35 people. Mumbai-based ColdStar Logistics, which has been handling festive supply chain spikes for over a decade, sees demand at 20-25% more than last year. The firm has partnered with over 120 brands and services orders directly for top quick commerce and e-commerce platforms.