← Business Metric: Industry Specific (Infrastructure, Transport & Utilities) (all topics)
Cold chain & route density
What it is
Dairy distribution requires refrigerated storage and transport from village collection through chilling centres to retail, with daily delivery for fresh products. Route density determines cost per litre delivered
Quick commerce has added a same-day fresh channel with its own cold requirements
Impact on industries
- Cold chain investment is a genuine barrier - a competitor cannot enter a geography without replicating the collection and delivery network
- Dense routes make incremental volume highly profitable, which is why dairies expand market by market rather than nationally
- Capital-heavy and geographically constrained, so growth requires building infrastructure ahead of the volume that justifies it
- Cold chain failure destroys product and reputation simultaneously, so reliability cost cannot be economised