A cold store is a large refrigerated room or building designed for storage of goods in a controlled environment below the outdoor temperature. Products needing refrigeration include fruit, vegetables, seafood and meat. A cold storage room is a great place to store fruits and vegetables, as well as other products, as they prolong the life and help prevent spoilage of foods. Cold Rooms are a great idea as they will keep items much cooler than regular room temperature. This makes cold storage rooms and cooler rooms refrigeration a great choice for storing perishable items.

Most of the time, people have to throw away food and other products that spoil because we do not store them adequately. Cooler rooms refrigeration will help to save money by keeping the spoils to a minimum. A cold storage room can keep fruits and vegetables at the correct temperature while controlling the moisture level to help extend the life of the fresh produce longer until it can be used. This will help to minimize waste and save money. Fruits left at room temperature can spoil quickly. If fruits and vegetable are kept at a cold storage room can keep harvest fresher and longer. Cold storage rooms will also benefit if one purchases fruits and vegetables in bulk. Furthermore, they can be used to extend the life of other bulk materials such as flour, sugar and other cooking ingredients. Canned goods can be kept longer and protected from spoilage as well by keeping them from coming in contact with direct lighting. All fruits and vegetables require specialized post-harvest treatment, appropriate temperature and relative humidity for their storage. Establishment of cold storage provides refrigerated storage and preservation facilities for different fruits, vegetables as well as flowers. Because of technology advancements and logistic strategies, the cold storage of perishable items has become an important stage in the distribution between manufacturers/processors and retail locations. The cold storage will ensure the increased availability and improved quality of high value perishable fruits and vegetables for both export and local sale, which would otherwise perish or deteriorate.

In the global climatic zones, Bangladesh is a tropical country where average daytime temperature ranges between 23-34 degrees Celsius. Seasonal vegetables and fruits require storage refrigerated warehouse facilities (called as “Cold Storage”). Most vegetables and fruits are preserved at variable temperature between 30 Celsius to 50 Celsius for marketing off- seasons at a higher price in major urban markets such as Dhaka and Chattogram (many perishable products such as potato seeds/potato, tomato, carrot, green chilies, beans, cauliflower, & mango may be sold off-season at profits ranging, 100-500 per cent). Nevertheless, there is an acute shortage small cold storage to preserve vegetables and fruits which results in loss and damage of 25-45 per cent perishable produces in Bangladesh. Production of fresh vegetable and fruits is highest in Asia (251.57 million tons), and China alone produce 169.23, India (33. 22), Africa (19.72), Europe (10.62), and America (7.62) million tons. Unfortunately, due to inadequacy of post-harvest cold storage facilities, the farmers suffer a huge loss and damage of perishable produces, and become victims of exploitation by middlemen and local wholesalers at both producers and consumers end.  Nearly one third of horticultural produce, especially fruits and vegetables are wasted, mainly on account of poor cold storage and other storage facilities. The demand for cold storage is growing among farmers, fisheries and rural small businesses for short term preservation of perishable agro-products near wholesale rural markets.

For sizeable domestic market demand, SEBA AgroTech and Seeds Limited (Herein referred as ‘SEBA AgroTech’) has taken initiative to establish a new multi-commodity specialized potato seeds, fruits & vegetables cold storage at Lokhnathpur, Damurhuda, Chudanga, Bangladesh. As per analysis, this project will be technically feasible, financially rewarding and economically & commercially viable.

As there is a sizeable domestic market demand for specialized cold storage in Bangladesh, SEBA AgroTech and Seeds Limited (SEBA AgroTech) has taken initiative to establish a new Specialized multi-commodity cold storage for Potato Seeds, Vegetables and Fruits such as Mango, Litchi, Water Melons, Tomato, Cauliflower etc. The total products storage capacity of the project will be 4,000 MT per year.

Out of total storage capacity, 80% will be utilized for Potato seeds, 15% for seasonal vegetables and 5% for seasonal fruits.

Attainable Storage Capacity Utilized as per Storage Matrix/MT will be 3,200 MT potato seeds & potato, 600 MT seasonal vegetables and 200 MT seasonal fruits. In this specialized cold storage, maximum 64,000 bags of potato seeds & potato, 30,000 crates of seasonal vegetables in four (04) rotations per year and 10,000 crates of seasonal fruits can be stored every year.

The weight of the bags/crates will be 50kg for potato seed bags, 20 kg for vegetable crates and 20 kg for fruit crates. For potato seeds and seasonal fruits, there will be one (01) rotation per year.

As per attainable storage capacity, the Yearly Rental Revenue has been projected BDT 20.00 mln and BDT 94.00 from Own Revenue. Total yearly sales and rental revenue has been estimated BDT 114.00 mln.

The total project cost has been estimated BDT 195.65 mln in which fixed costs BDT 165.31 mln including IDCP & variable costs BDT 30.35 mln.

Total Land size of this project is 5 Bigha/165 decimals where Main Storage Steel Structure Building will be total 46,200 square feet.