The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), in partnership with the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA), has developed a new protocol to standardize and modernize temperature monitoring across the frozen food supply chain.

This protocol provides a unified, data-driven approach to tracking temperature fluctuations from production to distribution. It is designed to help frozen food manufacturers, cold chain logistics providers and retail/foodservice distributors improve operational efficiency, enhance food quality and safety, and reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

“This protocol represents a major advancement for frozen food manufacturers and broader cold chain partners as we drive continued improvements in quality and sustainability,” said Dr. Sanjay Gummalla, AFFI’s senior vice president of food safety and scientific affairs. “By establishing a common framework for monitoring temperature fluctuations, we’re not only improving consistency across the cold chain—we’re also laying the groundwork for a more sustainable future.”

The protocol represents the first phase of a broader industry initiative, with a taskforce developing additional guidance documents addressing food quality assessment, shelf-life optimization, food safety considerations and energy measurement protocols, in the coming months.

“There are major opportunities for businesses across the cold chain to identify and eliminate inefficiencies in how they use energy to keep food frozen,” said Shane Brennan, senior vice president of strategy, partnerships and policy at the GCCA. “To seize this opportunity, it’s critical to build a shared understanding of how to monitor and log temperatures across every link in the chain. This protocol is a big step forward and lays the foundation for greater collaboration to drive efficiency, sustainability and high-quality food preservation.”
 Additional background information in an industry memo available here. 

About the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI)
The American Frozen Food Institute is the national trade association promoting and representing the interests of all segments of the frozen food industry. With over 400 frozen processors and associate members, AFFI works to advance the industry’s priorities, elevating the voice of frozen, and driving solutions for category performance. 

About the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA)
The Global Cold Chain Alliance represents all major industries engaged in temperature-controlled logistics and is dedicated to building a universally strong cold chain where perishable products maintain quality and safety through each link. GCCA serves as the focused voice of the cold chain industry, representing 1,300 member companies in over 85 countries.