Guest opinion piece by Ben Cohn, co-founder and managing director of TAXIBOX

The impacts of the pandemic across sectors have been swift and relentless, forcing many businesses to pivot into new and unexpected areas just to survive. Commercial real estate has experienced its fair share of change because of COVID, and at times, in completely unexpected ways.

The demand for cold storage, for instance, has taken an unusual turn, driven by limited supply and high demand for online grocery shopping and the food and beverage sector. According to a forecast by Forrester, online grocery services in the US alone are expected to grow by 30% YoY until 2024, doubling its share of the online market.

Many food producers and wholesalers now need to store supplies for longer periods, as lockdowns drain stockpiles rapidly and unexpectedly and businesses pivot their offerings, too. Smaller cold storage properties in particular, are proving hard to find.

Formerly seen as a specialised product, the cold storage sector is quickly transitioning from owner-occupier to purpose-built, institutional grade facilities. However, acute cold storage shortages are expected to continue until construction can catch up. The cost and complexity of building specific fit outs according to tenant specifications mean that cold storage construction can take up to six months longer than a dry warehouse. And because spaces are custom-built, tenants are much more likely to commit to long-term leases, making turnover in the sector relatively low.

Therefore, with present end-to-end cold chain solutions unable to meet the needs of businesses forced to adapt to sudden, ongoing lockdowns, a more agile, scalable solution has proven successfull. 

An innovative refrigerator solution - mobile cool storage units

I co-founded TAXIBOX with business partner Jeremy Rosen to provide customers with a mobile self-storage solution and a seamless user experience. TAXIBOX’s distinctive bright yellow on-site storage units first appeared in late 2019, with the company’s offering expanding to include cool storage, mobile storage, interstate moving services and a host of other moving related services.

Known for its sturdy, conveniently sized storage units (able to fit into a standard, single car space), fast delivery and removal, our services provide affordable, convenient, easy-to-use solutions for businesses and individuals with a range of storage needs.

Our cool mobile units - launched this year - provide customers with a secure storage solution featuring Bluetooth locks (optionally) and state-of-the-art digital cooling systems with the ability to adjust temperatures to suit their needs. Compact enough for small sites, with the ability to scale for larger locations, the units can be delivered to many sites around Australia.

How the pandemic led to our cool mobile storage servicing ‘pop up’ industries’

Just prior to the pandemic, we invested approximately $1 million in mobile cool rooms designed to service the weddings, events and catering industry. However, lockdowns and ongoing COVID restrictions saw these industries go on ‘ice’ (excuse the pun) and we had to reinvent this part of the business.

In line with TAXIBOX’s positioning as a progressive, disruptive, forward-thinking and agile company, we quickly identified new, unexpected interest for our cool storage mobile units through a mixture of proactive and inbound enquiries.

Lockdown had seen new ‘pop up’ industries emerge requiring flexible, mobile chilling solutions, including pathology businesses and vaccination hubs requiring vaccine, medicinal and sample refrigeration; businesses requiring PPE storage and refrigerated click & collect; and hospitality businesses offering take-home meals.

We quickly turned to these new industries to help businesses who were thriving but also struggling due to a lack of cold storage. We ensured that these cold storage units could be redirected and still used at a time when the industries we initially designed them for were no longer operating.

By pivoting during the pandemic, our clients now include national pathology clinics, aged care centres, hospitals and click and collect food and alcohol services amongst a range of restaurants, cafes and butcheries providing finish-at-home meals. This is certainly different from the market prior to the pandemic.

Guest opinion piece by Ben Cohn, co-founder and managing director of TAXIBOX