Brand Name: ColdHubs

ColdHubs, a “plug and play” modular, solar-powered walk-in cold room that offers 24/7 off-grid storage and preservation solution for perishable foods, was presented during the Innovations Session n°4. ColdHubs stations extend the shelf life of fruit, vegetables and other perishable food from two days to about 21 days. Farmers can store their products using reusable crates which fit neatly onto the shelves and pay a daily flat fee for each crate of food they store. The cold rooms are installed in major food production and consumption centers (in markets and farms) in Nigeria and other neighbor countries. 58 ColdHubs are currently operating and 40 are planned to be installed in 2023 and 2024. This social company impacts positively local agrifood systems in four ways by (1) reducing post-harvest loss by 80%; (2) increasing local farmers’ income as they can sell more of their harvest; (3) creating jobs for women by hiring mainly women to manage the operations and collection of revenue at ColdHubs stations; (4) reducing malnutrition as more nutritious food will be available to rural and urban dwellers, especially children. This technological evaluation is estimated to help improving the income of over 5,000 smallholder farmers annually.

To ensure that the cold storage facilities are efficiently functioning and used, ColdHubs provides a set of additional services to their users. As part of the ColdHubs Maintenance Modality, cooling units are regularly checked to ensure their operations on the long-term. ColdHubs also organises several post-harvest trainings across the country to educate smallholder farmers on proper handling, storage, and management of agricultural products. The company has developed training materials in form of comic books written in different local languages. ColdHubs also invests in training their staff, for example, to build the capacity of their sales and marketing team and supply chain officers.

The company continuously unveils solutions to strengthen local food systems, quality, and safety. In 2022, the company launched a 100-tonnes ColdHubs station for the daily storage and preservation of 5,000 crates of fresh produce. The same year, ColdHubs also started a cold transport solution for temperature-sensitive products such as fruit and vegetables, dairy products, pharmaceutical products, and other perishables. Deliveries are done within 24 hours of loading the products across states in Nigeria. The high demand for this logistic service has led ColdHubs to expand the refrigerated trucks capacities and their numbers. In July 2023, five 20-tonnes trucks were added to the fleet, each of them having a capacity to accommodate 1,000 crates of produce.

In October 2023, the company is launching its first IcePoint (in addition to a new cold room) in International Market, Abakaliki, in Ebonyi State, south-eastern Nigeria. IcePoints uses solar energy for the daily production and harvest of 1 tonne of ice blocks (5kg each) to extend the shelf life of perishable goods by maintaining a low temperature allowing farmers and fishermen to reach distant markets and maximize their profits.

ColdHubs will also start producing returnable crates to reduce plastic waste that is being incurred by most of the food packaging. The objective is to offer an alternative to traditional single-use packaging for the transportation and preservation of fruit and vegetables from farms to consumers’ tables.

ColdHubs is the brainchild of Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu, who founded and leads the Smallholders Foundation (of Nigeria) that promotes sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation through educational radio programmes. Nnaemeka’s expertise about local agrifood systems, market access and technical know-how helped the Germany Institute for Air Handling and Refrigeration (ILK Dresden) conducting the technical research and prototype design of ColdHubs station. The project was financed by the German development agency GIZ through catalytic funding.

Nnaemeka’s contribution to improve local agrifood value chains and economies has been acknowledged by many distinctions. ColdHubs won, among others, the 2022 Food Planet Prize from from Curt Bergfors Foundation. This is the largest monetary award (2 million USD) in the global food arena, and it rewards innovative solutions that contribute to shifting to sustainable food systems within a ten-year timeframe.

Find out more about ColdHubs on the following pages:

• Business profile
• Session Innovations n°4