A Cold Room in the Market, Run on Sunshine

Nigeria loses an enormous share of its harvest between field and plate simply because there is nowhere cold to put it, and the losses land on smallholders who must sell immediately at whatever price the day offers. ColdHubs installs walk-in cold rooms at farms and markets, powered by rooftop solar with battery and thermal storage so they hold temperature through the night and through grid outages, and sells access by the crate per day rather than requiring anyone to buy a refrigerator. Shelf life goes from around two days to twenty-one, which changes not just spoilage but bargaining position — a farmer who can wait is not forced to accept the first offer. The network reached 11,100 farmers, retailers and wholesalers using 58 cold rooms across 28 Nigerian states, has saved nearly 13.9 million kilograms of food from spoiling, and employs over 100 women as hub managers.