One of the most promising areas of R&D in supply chain management is cold chain supply. Apart from the perishable food industry, the pharmaceutical industry is a vital sector that relies on an efficient network of cold storage and transportation. This is because the various raw materials and vaccines that are used in the production of medicines need to be transported and stored in a secure environment.

There are many components needed to develop a successful cold chain infrastructure to make it one of the most promising fields in the cold chain warehousing and logistics industry.

Swarup Bose, founder of Celcius Logistics, a cold supply chain marketplace startup in a conversation with the Financial Express discusses the concurrent challenges and needs of the industry and to address them.

Tell us about the brand’s journey in the Indian market since its launch

Celcius is building a value proposition by adopting technology to solve challenges in inefficiency, transparency, and discovery, and provide quality assurance in the cold-chain logistics market while aggregating fragmented demand and supply across regions.

Since our inception, we have also added a 4500+ fleet of reefer vehicles, 107 cold storage, 7 Distribution centres, and over 100+ Hyperlocal riders. In the last year itself, we grew 20X and now, having raised 100 Cr in Series.

How are tech-enabled services transforming the cold storage industry?

The cold supply chain sector in India is highly fragmented and is faced with severe challenges such as inefficient temperature control and monitoring and inadequate tech integration. Through the effective integration of AI, ML, IoT and Data-driven insights on a single platform, it is possible to build a seamless cold supply chain network that allows complete transparency and real-time tracking. Integration also offers 360° visibility into cold chain fleets, including KPIs such as capacity utilization, driving speed, and idling times.

Blockchain is fast catching up as a preferred tech adoption for cold supply chain companies, it offers a transparent and secure platform to manage and track inventory as it moves through the supply chain.  The tech enablement not only optimizes the last mile but also helps address issues of timely delivery and loss due to wastage, maximizing profitability for all parties and enhancing food security in the country.

What are the challenges India is facing in the cold supply chain sector and how it overcome them in long run?

As a nation, we currently incur food losses worth about $14bn, most of which are post-harvest losses, due to inefficiencies in its cold supply chain. Some of the key issues in terms of managing perishables are challenges like lack of temperature monitoring in cold storages, use of non-refrigerated vehicles for last mile transportation for smaller quantities or shorter distances, lack of tracking and tracing technology to monitor distribution, and inaccurate handling of products with untrained drivers and delivery agents. The lack of affordable cold storage and cold transport facilities is another common challenge faced by rural farmers and food producers.

A strategically built, tech-enabled cold supply chain network that is seamless and offers real-time tracking and monitoring, can help solve several inefficiencies across the cold supply chain and help reduce wastage, thereby enhancing revenues, and helping fight hunger and build food security.

What kind of support from the government does the cold storage logistics sector require to make it more enabling?

While there has been a strong focus by the government on Logistics as a sector, especially through the NLP, a renewed and closer look at Cold Supply Chain would benefit in cutting losses and improving the hunger index while also empowering agriculture, food & dairy and process food sectors, along with pharma and healthcare.

With provisions for FDI and/or capital support, it will be easier to bring in the best in tech innovations that can be applied across the cold supply chain and truly empower all stakeholders to embrace smart tech.

Subsidies focused on the unique cold storage needs for sectors like fresh foods, dairy, meat, and other frozen and processed food as well as pharma products and intermediaries would go a long way

Healthy Public Private Partnerships can help easier access to effective cold supply chain infrastructure which can help farmers and the government to drive efficient food distribution and improved quality of produce.

How does the company aim to solve the last-mile distribution problem in India?

We have invested in a fleet of reefer (refrigerated) vehicles, and will also partner with vehicle owners and automotive manufacturers to create a robust on-ground network of reefer vehicles, that will be integrated with the smart platform. Currently, the last mile platform is operational across six metros and we plan on expanding this to other tier-2 cities and towns in the next six months. The company has already secured contracts for storage and distribution from clients like Zepto, Maersk, and others, and also handles distribution for Jubilant Foods, Rebel Foods and a host of other Cloud kitchens and local businesses who get instant access to all the asset inventory via Celcius’s last mile delivery platform.

What are the company’s plans for future collaborations and expansion? Funding related

Celcius is on a mission to bridge the systemic gaps in the cold supply chain industry and create an unparalleled tech ecosystem. We have experienced remarkable growth since inception and now. With the newly raised funding led by IvyCap Ventures, we aim to accelerate the business by utilizing the funds for tech innovations to solve the fragmented nature of the cold supply chain and thereby reduce the wastage of perishables. This will help in building a sustainable future.  We are just about touching 100 Cr ARR in the topline and aiming to grow at 3X and achieve the target of 300 Cr ARR by next year.