Cold Solutions Kenya

What Cold Solutions Kenya does

Cold Solutions Kenya Ltd (legally Cold Solutions Kiambu (SEZ) Limited) operates temperature-controlled storage and cold chain logistics infrastructure for perishable goods across East Africa. The company's flagship is a 15,000 square metre Grade A warehouse at the Tatu City Special Economic Zone in Kiambu, comprising 14 chambers maintaining temperatures from +26°C to -30°C, with two chambers reaching -40°C, and 15,000 pallet positions. A second facility at Colfax Industrial Park in Mombasa brings total network capacity to 20,000 pallets, positioned for cross-border logistics and import/export flows. In 2025, the company launched a new owned refrigerated fleet with multi-zone refrigeration to extend the platform into last-mile and rural sourcing.

The underlying technology platform combines multi-zone refrigeration systems, IoT-enabled real-time temperature and humidity monitoring, AI-driven compressor optimization (reportedly reducing energy costs by up to 15%), and the Dovetail WMS/TMS for inventory and fleet visibility. Operations are partly powered by rooftop solar systems (covering approximately 30% of facility energy needs) and ammonia-based refrigerants. Cold Solutions is authorized by Kenya's Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) to import, store, and re-export pharmaceuticals, complying with GDP, GMP, WHO, and FDA guidelines, which supports a higher-margin pharma cold chain vertical.

Revenue is generated through multiple streams: cold storage rental (recurring, contract-based), freight management (usage-based), and professional services including blast freezing, blast chilling, packhouse value-added services, and refrigerated fleet services. Pricing is custom and quote-based, not publicly disclosed, with multi-year enterprise contracts as the standard. Customer segments span fresh produce and protein (agriculture), food manufacturing and FMCG, retail and supermarkets, hospitality and QSR, pharmaceuticals, and smallholder farmer aggregators across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. The company is backed by ARCH Emerging Markets Partners via the ARCH Cold Chain Solutions East Africa Fund (a KES 7.5 billion investment programme), received $19 million in debt financing from Mirova's Gigaton Fund in January 2026, and announced a $20 million minority stake sale to South African private equity firm Inspired Evolution in late 2025 pending Comesa Competition Commission approval.

Name

Cold Solutions Kenya

Legal name

Cold Solutions Kiambu (SEZ) Limited

Website

https://coldsolutionskenya.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cold Solutions Kenya operates East Africa's largest Grade A temperature-controlled storage and cold chain logistics platform, serving agriculture, pharmaceutical, food manufacturing, retail, and hospitality sectors across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cold Chain Logistics and Temperature-Controlled Storage

NAICS

Refrigerated Warehousing and Storage (493120), Warehousing and Storage (493)

SIC

Public Warehousing & Storage (4220)

akta.pro primary industry

Frozen Food Cold Storage (TLALABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Temperature-Controlled Cross-Docking & Transload (Cold Chain) (TLALABAJ), Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences Cold Chain Storage (2–8°C / CRT) (TLALABAF), Pharmaceutical Cold-Chain Delivery (2–8°C / CRT) (TLAAAJAC), Cold-Chain Packaging & Pack-Out Services (Gel Packs, Dry Ice, Insulated Shippers) (TLAIAGAK)

Keywords

• Temperature-controlled storage
• Cold chain logistics
• Refrigerated warehousing
• Pharmaceutical cold storage
• Post-harvest loss reduction

Headquarters

HQ city

Kiambu

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Cold Storage and Warehousing: Temperature-controlled storage and handling services providing 14 chambers with independent humidity and temperature control (ranging from +26°C to -30°C, with 2 chambers reaching -40°C). Revenue generated through rental of cold storage space, likely on a per-pallet or contractual basis.
2. Freight Management and Logistics: Temperature-controlled transportation and freight forwarding services including cross-border logistics, SEZ import/export customs clearance, and last-mile distribution. Revenue generated through transportation fees, likely usage-based or contract pricing.
3. Packhouse and Value-Added Services: Pack house activities including kitting, banding, coding, labelling, strapping, shrinking, stickering, stamping, and weighing for fresh produce, supermarkets, quick service restaurants, and protein products.
4. Blast Freezing: Rapid freezing services lowering food to temperatures below -30°C to preserve freshness, flavour, and nutritional value. Common applications for fruits, vegetables, meat, and seafood.
5. Blast Chilling: Rapid cooling process that lowers freshly cooked food from above 60°C to 0-4°C within 90 minutes to preserve quality and extend freshness.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Cold Solutions Kenya operates East Africa's largest Grade A temperature-controlled storage and cold chain logistics network, providing multi-zone refrigerated warehousing (temperatures from +26°C to -40°C) for perishable agricultural, protein, food manufacturing, pharmaceutical, hospitality, and retail clients. The company offers an integrated cold chain solution combining storage, blast freezing and chilling, packhouse value-added services, freight management with SEZ customs clearance, and refrigerated last-mile delivery backed by IoT/AI monitoring.

Product overview

Cold Solutions Kenya operates a platform-plus-services model offering a unified cold chain network across East Africa. The core platform is the Temperature Controlled Storage and Handling service — a network of Grade A cold storage facilities in Tatu City (Kiambu) and Colfax Industrial Park (Mombasa) with 14 chambers spanning +26°C to -40°C and capacity for 20,000 pallets. This core is augmented by five service modules: Blast Freezing, Blast Chilling, Packhouse and Value-Added Services, Freight Management, and the Dovetail WMS/TMS platform. The latest addition is Refrigerated Fleet Services (2025), extending the platform from static storage into temperature-controlled last-mile transport. The Dovetail WMS/TMS serves as the operational backbone across all facilities, providing inventory tracking and fleet visibility. Together, these components form a one-stop-shop cold chain covering agriculture, protein, food manufacturing, hospitality, retail, and pharmaceutical sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Temperature Controlled Storage and Handling Core cold storage service with 14 separately manageable chambers maintaining temperatures from +26°C to -30°C, including two chambers reaching -40°C, with independently controllable humidity per chamber. Covers fresh produce, meat, seafood, dairy, and pharmaceutical products.
• Blast Freezing Rapid food preservation service that lowers food to temperatures below -30°C to preserve freshness, flavour, and nutritional value. Used for fruits, vegetables, meat, and seafood.
• Blast Chilling Rapid cooling process that lowers freshly cooked food from above 60°C to a safe storage range of 0-4°C within 90 minutes. Preserves food quality, minimizes moisture loss, and extends freshness.
• Packhouse and Value-Added Services Pack house services including kitting, banding, coding, labelling, strapping, shrinking, stickering, stamping, and weighing for fresh produce, supermarket, quick service restaurant, and protein product clients.
• Freight Management Temperature-controlled freight forwarding combining temperature and humidity control with global standards. Covers international transport, SEZ import/export customs clearance, and last-mile distribution with refrigerated vehicles.
• Refrigerated Fleet Services Refrigerated trucking fleet with multi-zone refrigeration for simultaneous transport of different temperature categories, GPS-enabled real-time monitoring, and live temperature tracking for last-mile delivery and cross-border logistics.
• Dovetail WMS/TMS Warehouse Management and Transport Management system providing inventory visibility, traceability, business intelligence, and real-time product location tracking across facilities and fleet.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces food loss from up to 40% to 10-15%
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCold Solutions Kenya is a member of the Global Cold Chain Alliance, an international organization dedicated to advocating for and advancing the cold chain industry. Membership provides access to industry best practices, networking, and standards development.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Snowman Logistics: India's largest cold chain and temperature-controlled logistics company with warehousing, distribution, and value-added services for food and pharma clients. Comparable emerging-market peer with similar one-stop-shop model across multiple temperature zones.
• Crystal Logistics & Cold Chain: India-based integrated cold chain services company offering warehousing, transportation, and value-added services for perishables. Comparable to Cold Solutions as an emerging-market cold chain platform expanding from storage into end-to-end logistics.
• SuperFrio Armazenagem: Brazilian cold storage operator providing temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics for food, pharmaceutical, and retail customers across Latin America. Comparable emerging-market peer with similar vertical specialization and value-added services model.

Broad incumbents

• Americold Logistics: Global publicly-traded cold storage REIT operating hundreds of facilities worldwide with integrated temperature-controlled storage, blast freezing, and transportation services. Serves as a comparable business model benchmark for Cold Solutions' storage-and-services platform and a potential long-term strategic acquirer.
• Lineage Logistics: World's largest temperature-controlled warehouse operator with global cold storage network and value-added services including blast freezing, transportation, and food-grade handling. Broad incumbent whose scale and technology platform set the benchmark Cold Solutions competes against as it expands regionally.
• Maersk Cold Chain Logistics: Global logistics giant with integrated cold chain capabilities including refrigerated container shipping, cold storage, and inland transportation. Broad incumbent relevant to Cold Solutions as a potential end-to-end logistics partner or competitive entrant into African cold chain.

Direct peers

• Imperial Health Sciences: South African pharmaceutical cold chain logistics provider offering GDP-compliant storage and distribution of vaccines, biologics, and medicines across sub-Saharan Africa. Direct comparator for Cold Solutions' pharmaceutical cold chain vertical and a potential regional consolidator.
• Big Cold Storage: Kenyan cold storage operator providing temperature-controlled warehousing and cold chain logistics services. Directly competes with Cold Solutions Kenya in the Nairobi and East Africa market for similar agricultural, protein, and food manufacturing customers.

Others

• Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) peer members: Cold Solutions is itself a GCCA member; other African and emerging-market cold chain operators within the alliance (e.g., regional 3PL cold chain providers) are ecosystem peers for benchmarking standards, partnerships, and competitive overlap.

Regional players

• Freeze Link Logistics: South Africa-based refrigerated transport and cold chain logistics provider specializing in temperature-controlled distribution across Southern Africa. Comparable as an emerging market cold chain operator with multi-temperature fleet operations and food/pharma client base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/coldsolutionske
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@coldsolutionskenya
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cold-solutions-kenya
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• Facebookfacebook.com/coldsolutionskenya

Compliance11 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cold Solutions Kenya