The need to make food production, distribution and consumption sustainable is a critical concern worldwide. Even though India contributes significantly to the world’s fruit and vegetable production, per capita domestic availability and export of fruits and vegetables in this country is low because of the enormous post-harvest losses. Primitive and inadequate cold chain infrastructure has been perceived to be the weakest link in the Indian food supply chain, as this directly affects the quality, safety and shelf life of perishable products. The paper empirically investigates the current state of cold storage facilities in West Bengal, the second highest potato producing state in India. It highlights specific cold chain wastes and elimination opportunities at strategic and operational levels. The study also identifies a need to establish and implement performance evaluation measures for monitoring the integrity of the cold chain. The study represents one of the first and objective studies of its type within the Indian agri-food supply chain and adds to the limited body of knowledge on this sector. At process level, this study provides recommendations for observance of proper conditions in the cold stores. It also provides viable and achievable initiatives to encourage private entrepreneurship and investment and to improve growth and profitability in this sector. This study is also timely and relevant as parallel development of cold chain infrastructure is essential to coincide with the emergence of organized retail in India.

The need to improve the sustainability of food production, distribution and consumption is a critical concern worldwide. Even though India contributes significantly to the world’s fruit and vegetable production, per capita domestic availability and export of fruits and vegetables are low because of the high post-harvest losses. Primitive and inadequate cold chain1 infrastructure that directly affects the quality, safety and shelf life of perishable products is considered to be the weakest link in the Indian food supply chain. Subin (2011) estimated India’s cold storage capacity as 23.6 million metric tons (5,386 cold stores2) against a production of 180 million metric tons of fruits, vegetables and perishables. Furthermore, a majority of these cold stores are utilized for a single commodity such as potatoes. Approximately, 104 million metric tons of perishable produce is transported across the country every year, out of which only 4 million metric tons move through reefer trucks. This study highlights the fact that India’s existing cold chain infrastructure is not only inadequate and underdeveloped but also primitive, unorganized and performing below capacity.

This paper presents an exploratory study into the current state of cold store operations in West Bengal, the second highest potato producing state in India. The study highlights specific cold chain ‘wastes’ and points to improvement opportunities at both strategic and operational level. The findings suggest a need to upgrade existing technology and also the skill-set within existing cold chain facilities. These should be benchmarketed against international standards. Given the fact-finding nature of this stage of the research, the paper is organized as follows: the first section presents an overview of the cold chain operations in the Indian context in general and West Bengal specifically; the next section outlines the research methodology for conducting this research, followed by the main findings. The last section discusses the implications of this research for Indian agri-food supply chain development and highlights the contributions made by the research, followed by a conclusion.

Supply Chain Management Journal, Left Out, Cold, Potato Cold Stores, Cold Chain Operation, Maintenance, Indian Cold Store Industry, Cold Storage Industry, West Bengal.