How a fishing port services company started a cold storage business with no building

At one of the busiest fishing ports in the US, a port services company in New Bedford, MA, already offered fishermen repair, unloading and fuel in one place. With a ZSTORE 2XL, it now runs a cold storage business too, selling seafood cold storage to fishermen: a brand-new revenue line, with no building to construct.

The challenge

This company is a one-stop shop for fishermen. Boats come in for repair, unloading and fuel, and the company serves them all from the same site.

Cold storage was the missing piece. Seafood has to go cold as soon as it comes off the boat, and offering storage on site is a natural extension of unloading. But building a cold storage facility at the port would have meant a construction project and a significant investment for a service that did not exist yet.

The company wanted to add the service without committing to a building. It needed something it could put in place on its existing site, start selling quickly, and grow later if fishermen used it.

The solution

ZGROUP delivered a ZSTORE 2XL: two XL modules connected side by side into one open walk-in cooler of 640 ft². Each module is built from a refrigerated shipping container with a Thermo King refrigeration unit.

The 2XL runs as a cooler for fresh storage. There was no building to construct: the unit is modular equipment placed on site, ready to work.

For a port business, the container-based design also makes sense. It is built from the same refrigerated shipping containers that already move seafood around the world.

The results

• 640 ft² of floor area
• Cooler for fresh storage
• New revenue with low investment

The company turned cold storage into a service it can sell, alongside repair, unloading and fuel, without building anything. For its customers, it means one more thing they can take care of at the same stop, on the same dock, with the same team.

Starting a cold storage business: turning cold into a service

For ports, docks and marine service businesses, seafood cold storage does not have to be only a cost. It can be a product. Fishermen need a cold place to hold their catch, and a business that already serves them on the dock is well placed to offer it.

Modular cold storage lowers the barrier to starting:

• No building. No civil works or permanent construction, only minimal site prep.
• Fast start. Units are delivered in under 60 days and installed in 2 to 5 days.
• Start small, grow later. One XL module is 320 ft² and about 20 pallet positions. Add modules side by side as demand grows.
• Cooler and freezer. Zones can run at different temperatures, across a range of -40°F to +104°F (-40°C to +40°C).
• Rent or buy. Test the service with a rental, or buy the unit outright.

When customers are trusting you with their catch, monitoring matters. ZTRACK provides remote monitoring of temperature and alarms. Every unit uses Thermo King refrigeration and comes with a 5-year warranty. And because modular units can be moved and reinstalled at another site, the investment is not locked to one dock.

Before you start

A cold storage business sells space at a controlled temperature, so size it around your customers, not around a building. Three questions come first:

• What will customers store, and at what temperature: fresh, frozen or both?
• How many pallets do they need at the busiest time of the year?
• Where on your site can the units sit so loading stays simple?

With those answers, compare the options on our walk-in cooler and walk-in freezer pages.

Is it right for your operation?

If you already serve fishermen or seafood buyers on the dock, cold storage may be your next service. See how ZSTORE XL modular cold storage is configured, or talk to our team about your site and your customers.