On World Refrigeration Day, the Cold Chain Federation published a new report demonstrating the critical importance of the cold chain to UK food supply, food safety and reducing food waste.

The Cold Chain details how the industry is integral to the food chain, from farm to fork. It shows the contribution that cold chain businesses make to the UK as a major employer, as a leader in technological innovation, and in tackling food waste and climate change. The report also looks at the industry’s progress on energy efficiency, and at the challenges and opportunities presented by Brexit.

Cold Chain Federation Chief Executive Shane Brennan said: “We work alongside our members day in and day out to make our industry’s voice heard, loud and clear at both national and regional levels. This new report is designed to help everyone gain a fuller appreciation of what the cold chain does and why it matters so much. Knowledge is crucial to ensuring politicians and policy makers give our industry’s concerns and ideas the weight they deserve.

“As the Cold Chain Federation takes the messages of our industry to Westminster and Whitehall, we are encouraging our members to use this new report to start a dialogue with their MPs and Local Enterprise Partnerships about why the cold chain matters to their local communities as well as to the nation as a whole.

“The theme of the World Refrigeration Day is the cold chain, so it is fitting that our new report showcases the value of our industry at this time of international interest.”

The report includes key information about the cold chain, such as:

•The cold chain employs in excess of 20,000 people in the UK, from warehouse operatives and drivers to systems analysts and robotics engineers.

•The UK frozen food industry is worth in excess of £8billion and the chilled food industry in excess of £11 billion.

•The Cold Chain Federation has 150 members, which operate more than 450 specialist storage facilities. This equates to around 3.5bn cubic metres of storage space.

•They run more than 30,000 refrigerated trailers across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, plus more than 40,000 refrigerated vans.

•Around 400 cold store facilities are signed up to the cold store Climate Change Agreement.

The Cold Chain report can be found at www.coldchainfederation.org.uk/ press-office