Godrej's Hot Bet on Cold Storage

The Covid-19 pandemic has amplified the importance of cold-chain infrastructure, and Godrej Appliances’ medical refrigeration business is making the most of the opportunity.

- GINA KRISHNAN

THE CREATION OF A HIGHLY specialised unit, Godrej Medical Refrigeration, at Godrej Appliances was the result of a couple of events happening at the same time. “It was around 2015 that we were having an interaction at a seminar with stakeholders, NGOs, and institutions to understand the challenges in the refrigeration space… and a gap in the medical refrigeration space was discussed extensively,” recalls Kamal Nandi, business head and vice president, Godrej Appliances, and a veteran Godrej hand. Retaining vaccine potency and preventing wastage due to breaches caused by power outages was imperative, they realised.

Around the same time, Sure Chill, a U.K.-based startup, had developed a cooling technology and was willing to license it out.

One thing literally led to the other and the company bought the Sure Chill technology and, in the process, acquired the cold-chain infrastructure focus that has become unexpectedly relevant and critical in the age of the Covid-19 pandemic. Consider how, in recent months, pharma companies and governments have joined forces to roll out the much-awaited vaccines. As recently as on February 9, Godrej Appliances launched its most advanced line of refrigerators with temperatures varying from 2° C-8° C, below -80° C, and -20° C. It is aware that mRNA-based vaccines to combat Covid-19 are temperature-sensitive and must be stored at very low temperatures. Pfizer, for instance, whose vaccine is being administered in the U.S. and the U.K., among other countries, needs to be stored at -70° C. (There are still no plans for an India roll-out although the infrastructure is now available.)