Martin Jones of Narrow Aisle explains how articulated forklift trucks can maximise space utilisation and boost performance for warehouse operators challenged by a growing demand for cold storage.
As the UK experiences a long summer of heatwaves, it is worth considering the importance of the cold storage sector. Despite having the largest cold storage capacity in Europe, the UK does indeed need even more cold store space to support successful food, retail and pharmaceutical supply chains.
Gaining more space is not always about constructing new warehouses; existing facilities can be used more purposefully. One way of doing this is through technology innovations, such as the integration of IoT (Internet of Things) and AI (Artificial Intelligence), which can improve operational efficiency and monitoring capabilities in cold stores. But just as important are established solutions for optimising warehouse space, such as articulated forklift trucks.
In fact, Flexi Narrow Aisle®, which has many customers who specialise in cold storage, can provide a Flexi Cold Store articulated lift truck that has been developed for continuous use down to –30 degrees centigrade.
This is good news for UK operators seeking high density storage involving narrow aisles in different types of cold stores to accommodate growing demand for perishable goods, frozen foods, online grocery or pharmaceutical products.
Perishable goods such as fresh produce, dairy products and ready-to-eat meals require chilled storage, which forms a big part of the UK cold storage estate. These facilities are maintained at temperatures of between 0 and 5 degrees centigrade to preserve these increasingly popular product groups.
Frozen is the other big part of cold storage where, depending on their type, goods are stored at temperatures from –18 to –30 degrees centigrade. Frozen food is growing in popularity due to a longer shelf life, reduced food waste and because it offers convenience for those preparing meals at home.
The desire for convenience is also a key factor in the UK’s online grocery market being the most developed in the world, accounting for just over 34% of the European market in 2025, according to Market Data Forecast. As of March 2026, Statista research found the number of people in the UK ordering groceries through online platforms reached around 28.6 million, representing a 5.15 percent growth from the previous year. Cold storage plays a vital role in fulfilling those orders.
Outside of the food sector the continually developing pharmaceutical sector delivers innovations – the covid vaccines and weight loss drugs to name just two – that can quickly create enormous demand. Many of these products require temperature-controlled environments that can maintain specific conditions, often between 2 and 8 degrees centigrade.
While the cold storage market is expanding in all these areas, operators are challenged to find high density cold storage solutions. Keeping storage areas chilled or frozen – the latter requiring around four times the energy of a normal warehouse – is a costly operation, particularly at a time of rising energy costs. Opting for articulated forklift trucks allows narrow aisle configurations in a cold store to optimise pallet storage density.
Flexi articulated forklift trucks can be deployed inside freezers to place and pick pallets that have been deposited by other forklifts or power pallet trucks, but their versatile design means that they can also collect and deliver urgent customer product loads directly to or from the waiting delivery vehicles at the loading docks.
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