The refrigerator is viewed as a necessity in our homes, but we overlook its importance, and don't even think of what we would do without one. Imagine how cavemen preserved food. They dug holes, harvested ice and packed whatever food they caught down in the ice to maintain its temperature and freshness. This process may sound similar to when we pack a cooler for a day on the beach, except we are given the convenience of buying the food and ice that goes into the cooler.

The first refrigerator was introduced to the public in the early 1900's, but did not achieve acceptance and household use by consumers until many years later. Scientists conducted years of experiments and research on evaporation, which led to the discovery that this very technique would create the first refrigerator. They studied and tested the best temperatures to store cold and frozen products. They also worked on ice producing techniques. Each of these techniques would not only be the basis of the common refrigerator, but in turn, also lead to the future construction of cold storage warehouses.

Before foods make it into your refrigerator, they are stored in large cold storage warehouse facilities. From these facilities, the food is delivered to the grocery store, where we as consumers then pick it up and bring it home. While it may be a regular task to throw the ground beef or milk from the grocery bag into the refrigerator, the process of getting it to the store is unfamiliar to most of us. There is often cross-country or worldwide transportation involved in getting food to the store where you purchase it. During that transport time, the food needs to remain at a safe temperature.

Refrigerated warehouse storage facilities represent 15% of all warehouses and storage facilities in the overall warehousing industry. Most are responsible for more than simply storing perishable items. Many refrigerated warehouse and storage facilities participate in the import, export and distribution of food. As third party logistics providers, they control most all of the operations necessary to make sure food is delivered safely to consumers.

Even if we aren't conscious of it, we all depend heavily on the cold supply chain. Whether it's the dock worker responsible for the timely delivery of the produce can coming off the boat, or the driver delivering goods to a grocery store, we all rely on the cold chain being carried out properly. Wherever you are on the cold chain, cold storage is an entity of our lives we quite possibly take for granted.