Bridging the Cold Chain Gap

This challenge aims to identify, pilot, and validate innovative solutions that help fruit and vegetable vendors in India reduce food loss and increase income through accessible mobile cold chain units.

By addressing gaps in last-mile cold chain infrastructure for the unorganized sector, this initiative aims to reduce post-harvest losses, extend the shelf life of perishable produce, and reduce distress sales for last mile street vendors. This can directly boost vendor incomes and integrate marginalized sellers, including women and youth, into sustainable value chains. In doing so, it also contributes to broader food and nutrition security, dignified livelihoods, and a more resilient, low-carbon agricultural ecosystem across India.

India loses nearly 30-40% of its fresh produce to post-harvest waste, and last-mile vendors bear the brunt. The existing cold chain infrastructure is concentrated at aggregation centers and organized retail, while small fruit and vegetable vendors are left without access to affordable cooling leaving their produce to wilt in the heat or rot in the rain. Yet these last-mile street vendors remain the trusted choice for most Indian for their daily fruits and vegetables purchase, serving a critical role in the food system.

Without basic cold storage, vendors are forced to sell perishables at throwaway prices or offload unsold stock entirely by end of the day, driving chronic income loss and deepening economic vulnerability. The cumulative effect is significant: food waste at scale and widening inequality among millions of vendors across India. So far, there have been no targeted interventions, designed specifically for last-mile vendors to offer a scalable pathway to reduce post-harvest losses, stabilize vendor incomes, and strengthen the fresh produce supply chain from farm to consumer.

How might we use innovative technology to bring affordable cooling or preservation solutions to India's last-mile fruit and vegetable vendors, cutting post-harvest losses and protecting their incomes on the street?

India's street vendors are the daily backbone of fresh food access for millions of households. Join Bridging the Cold Chain Gap Challenge and bring your solution to one of the country's most consequential and underserved links in the food system.