The consolidation of new investments in cold storage and developments in port infrastructure are strengthening the cold chain in Chile, a key link in sustaining the growth of food exports and responding to the demands of the main international markets.
Chile is already a major league player for food production and exports, a leader in fresh fruit and has consolidated its presence in frozen products, globally relevant aquaculture and a growing supply of processed foods.
This diverse portfolio finds support in a common core: a reliable and scalable cold chain, capable of preserving product conditions throughout the logistics chain and meeting the standards required by major international markets.
In recent years, the country has begun to strengthen this core. In 2024, Chile inaugurated one of its largest frozen storage facilities in Talcahuano, with a capacity of around 37,000 pallets and around 294,000 m³, according to Emergent Cold LatAm and Diario Frutícola.
This type of project adds to the improvement of port infrastructure: Puerto Coronel, for example, consolidated its position as the highest-performing container terminal in the country, according to the Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) 2024 prepared by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence. Both milestones point in the same direction: cold chain logistics no longer just provide support but also offer a competitive factor.
Likewise, the Chilean productive structure offers a solid foundation for thinking about more and better cold storage infrastructure. The country combines counter-seasonal windows, high sanitary standards and a diversified agrifood basket, positioning it as a reliable supplier of fresh and processed fruit, berries, seafood and other categories that depend heavily on a robust cold chain.
Fruit, cherries and frozen products
The growing cherry production in recent years is a good example of how the cold chain intersects with investment opportunities.
According to recent analyses by ODEPA, in the 2024/25 season, fresh cherry shipments reached around 625 thousand metric tons and values close to US$2.85 billion FOB, consolidating this product as the country’s main fruit export.
These volumes are concentrated in a relatively short period of time and require high precision pre-refrigeration infrastructure, cold storage and export logistics.
At the start of the season, the air bridge remains key to serving a niche segment in Asia that demands very early fruit and is generally willing to pay higher prices, bringing supply to the market weeks ahead of the consumption peak associated with Chinese New Year. Several airlines have reinforced their operations to move cherries within a short timeframe, which requires a very precise cold chain from the producing valleys to the airport and the final destination.
But the story doesn’t end with fresh produce. Globally, the frozen fruit market has been growing steadily. For example, ResearchAndMarkets estimates a growth of around 6.6% per year for the global frozen fruit market by 2030. This fruit is increasingly used as ingredients for beverages, yogurt, baking, desserts and healthy snacks.
In parallel, Chile already has a relevant export base in frozen berries and fruit for the industry, such as blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and others, in addition to the already mentioned cherries. This all reinforces the idea that the IQF/frozen format is not just a “plan B”, but a concrete alternative to capture value when the fresh window narrows or when larger harvest volumes concentrate in a limited period of time.
The decision is no longer exclusively to “only sell fresh or don’t sell,” but to design infrastructure that makes it possible to combine fresh and IQF depending on market conditions and the needs of each destination: maintain high quality fruit for premium markets, divert part of the production for freezing when required by prices or logistics, or serve new industrial applications where supply stability is key.
Where to invest in the cold chain in Chile
The center–south of the country, especially in O’Higgins, Maule, Ñuble and Biobío, concentrates a large part of the export fruit production. This area has also identified moments of greater pressure on the capacity of pre-cooling, preservation chambers and controlled atmosphere equipment.
The result is well known to industry players: during certain harvest periods, the existing infrastructure is strained and logistics must push their limits to avoid product loss and loss of quality.
This reality opens up a space for integrated post-harvest centers that bring together reception, pre-cooling, grading, storage chambers and, in some cases, IQF/blast lines and value-added services (repacking, labeling, preparation of orders for end customers).
The value lies not only in adding cubic meters of cold storage, but in generating operating points where strategic decisions can be made with greater flexibility: extending the shelf life of fresh fruit, earmarking it for freezing or directing it to industry, depending on prices, logistical windows and commercial agreements.
In the central-southern coastal area, last-mile port hubs (reefer yards, consolidation zones, cross-dock schemes and monitoring systems) play a key role in connecting seasonal production and maritime outlets.
Reducing the hours between departure from the plant and actual loading onto the vessel in peak demand weeks can make the difference between meeting an arrival window or cutting prices due to quality. When this is not possible, the right infrastructure for freezing and storage makes it possible to maintain value and provide business continuity.
Further north, in the Tarapacá and Antofagasta regions, the conversation shifts to the projection of new flows associated with the Action Plan for the Bi-oceanic Road Corridor, a regional integration initiative that aims to link central-western Brazil, Paraguay and northwestern Argentina with Chilean ports on the Pacific coast.
Although this is an initiative under development, if these flows materialize, the Far North could require new industrial-scale cold infrastructure nodes: reefer yards for containers, consolidation and pre-cold chambers near ports and main highways, in a modular and scalable design, especially to receive food cargo from Brazil destined for Asia and other markets.
On an international level, Chile’s network of agreements incorporates markets such as Asia, North America and Europe. For the European Union, the new bilateral framework—through the Advanced Framework Agreement and its interim trade pillar—updates and expands preferential access for a significant part of the agrifood basket, according to SUBREI. In addition to the growing demand for frozen food and fruit in other destinations, this reinforces the need for a robust and flexible cold chain in Chile, capable of meeting quality, traceability and supply continuity standards.
Cold chain investment opportunities
In this context, cold chain investment opportunities can be generally grouped along three lines:
- Post-harvest and frozen fruit in the center–south: projects that combine pre-cold, cold storage, controlled atmosphere and frozen lines (IQF/blast) in strategic fruit growing areas, adding flexibility to transit between fresh and industrial markets.
- Last-mile port hubs: reefer and consolidation infrastructure near key ports, with reefer yards, cross-dock services and real-time monitoring solutions that reduce critical times and strengthen traceability to importers, supermarkets and e-commerce platforms.
- Modular nodes in the Far North: cold storage facilities designed to grow in stages, linked to the development of international logistics corridors as they consolidate.
In all cases, there is a common thread: reduce product loss, extend shelf life and offer the frozen option when the fresh market becomes tighter. From here, each project will define its combination of location, scale and technology based on the product, destination and investment horizon.
Looking for opportunities to develop or expand cold chain infrastructure in Chile?
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