A new project co-founded by Preferred Freezer Service Founder and former CEO John Galiher and long-time temperature-controlled logistics leader Dan DiDonato is working to create a new model of cold storage they say will target a client that has been overlooked in the modern market.
The new company, called Unitcold, is developing a smaller-scale temperature-controlled warehouse that can cater to customers with lower volumes that have been left behind by newer, large warehouses. DiDonato told SeafoodSource during the Global Seafood Market Conference in Hollywood, Florida, U.S.A. that the seafood industry is a prime target for the new cold storage model, especially smaller-volume specialty companies.
“What we’re building is small bay, flexible cold storage for the small- to medium-sized customer – all those guys that have little vans,” DiDonato said. “It really is the last-mile distribution.”
He said for the last few decades, cold-storage warehouses have gotten larger and larger, and many facilities are looking for customers that can fill thousands of pallet spaces at a time, not smaller ones that can only fill a few hundred. That has pushed out those smaller customers entirely, he said.
“They can’t afford to be in the PRW [public refrigerated warehouse] anymore, they’ve gotten too big and they can’t service these little trucks,” DiDonato said. “They’re shying away from that small operator – like a seafood company that does [USD] 50 million [EUR 42 million] in revenue and he’s got 10 vans running around the city of Boston."
The new Unitcold facilities will be modular, separate cold-storage facilities that can handle temperatures from minus 20 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The facilities will be built in pairs of either 6, 8, 10, or 12 separate spaces that come with two dock doors and 600 square feet of office space. Each space will be accessible 24/7 by the client, and its size will allow Unitcold to place them close to its end markets, allowing the spaces to be tailored to the customer leasing it.
DiDonato said the ideal customer is someone with several vans or small trucks who has to pick things up and deliver them to clients locally. He said that right now, many of those customers are stuck looking for a dry warehouse that they can shove a cold-storage solution inside of, a “box in a box.”
Certain premium seafood products are a prime example of the struggle companies are facing, he said. Caviar companies often need cold storage solutions for their products, but the small volume and high value has major providers avoiding the liability.
Currently, Unitcold has three units in the process of being approved, with locations in Houston, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; and Lake Worth, Florida. The Houston location will break ground in a few weeks, with plans to build all three locations in 2026 and an opening in 2027.
“We think any major market can take at least 10 or 12 of these things, and we think that once people get into the space they’ll realize how fast they really need the next space next to them,” DiDonato said.
He said that in his past experience with Preferred Freezer, whenever the company opened a new warehouse a customer would have the opportunity to move into a new market, and the new facilities will be positioned to do the same for its customers.
“We really think we’re creating an asset class that doesn’t exist, that is currently hodgepodged together,” DiDonato said.
