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The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2015–2025

ColdHubs sells cold storage by the crate a day, not the fridge

A 10-foot solar cold room in the market keeps produce up to 21 days for about 25 cents a crate a day.

ColdHubs

the move

In Nigeria nearly 40% of food is lost before it reaches consumers, and rural electricity shortages make it nearly impossible to keep produce cold, so post-harvest waste is severe.

In 2015 entrepreneur Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu founded ColdHubs, a solar-powered, cooling-as-a-service operation placing walk-in cold rooms in open-air markets and farm clusters, preserving fresh food for up to three weeks.

The twist is the payment model: farmers store a crate for about 25 cents a day rather than buying a cold room, so the machines sit where the food is and run 24/7 off the grid.

why it works

  • Per-crate pricing removes the capital barrier that made cold rooms unaffordable for smallholders.
  • Putting the cold store in the market means produce is cooled at the point of spoilage, not after a long trip.
  • The solar roof keeps it running in places with no reliable grid.
  • Selling cooling as a service aligns ColdHubs' revenue with farmers' actual use.
the payoffSell cold by the crate, not the machineinspired

what transfers

When an asset is too expensive to buy, price the outcome instead — rent the service, and the asset's own cost stops being a barrier.

what came after

By 2020 ColdHubs' 54 units had saved over 42,000 tonnes of food and about 1.04 million kg of CO2, boosted the income of more than 5,200 smallholders, and created jobs for unemployed women.

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