In the IV quarter of 2023 the number of active in Georgia was 256 and most of them were located in Shida Kartli region (63.7 percent), - according to the preliminary data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat). Active cold storage facilities were also located in Tbilisi (10.9 percent), Kvemo Kartli region (6.6 percent), Kakheti region (6.6 percent), Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region (3.5 percent), Imereti region (3.5 percent), Adjara AR (2.3 percent), Mtskheta-Mtianeti region (1.6 percent), Samtskhe-Javakheti region (0.4 percent), Racha-Lechkhumi (0.4 percent) and Guria region (0.4 percent).
According to the document, in the IV quarter of 2023, the service was provided to 329 customers. The number of producers and resellers, from whom the products were purchased, amounted to 956 persons. Average monthly number of persons employed in cold storage facilities were 1 369.
In total 74.8 thousand tons of products were stored in cold storage facilities during the IV quarter of 2023, of which 34.1 percent was chicken meat (including frozen meat), 21.5 percent – fruit and vegetable, 18.7 percent – meat and meat products (including semi-finished products, excluded chicken meat), 17.4 percent – fish, while remaining products had a small share.
In the IV quarter of 2023, the share of own production in the total volume of products stored in cold storage facilities was 25.9 percent, while the share of products purchased for further resale was 25.4 percent and the share of products stored as services was 48.7 percent. The service fee at the same period amounted to 6.6 million GEL.
In the IV quarter of 2023, the total cost of products (22.3 thousand tones) sold by cold storage facilities amounted 131.7 million GEL, of which the share of imported products was 25.2 percent, share of own production was 25.3 percent and the share of products (local) purchased for resale was 49.4 percent. Herewith, 56.6 percent of own production sold by cold storage facilities was chicken meat. Significant share of imported products was chicken meat (including frozen) (31.9 percent), meat and meat products (including semi-finished products) (42.6 percent) and fish (10.4 percent).
In the IV quarter of 2023, the value of products sold by cold storage facilities on the foreign market amounted to 5.5 million GEL, which constituted to 4.2 percent of the total value of products sold in the same period. Mostly chicken meat, fish, fruits and vegetables were sold on the foreign markets.
According to the survey results, the average daily load per storage (out of total storage capacity in percent) was 58.7 percent in October, 59.5 percent in November and 56.3 percent in December.
