Walmart has announced a plan to remove synthetic food dyes and 30 other ingredients, such as preservatives, from all store brands in the U.S. This aligns with a key goal of the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement—led by the Trump administration and the Department of Health & Human Services—to remove dyes and highly processed products from the food supply. While the MAHA movement is skeptical of many pharmaceuticals, this sector may join fresh food as a major driver of cold storage demand.
MAHA’s push for fresher, additive-free foods will require more temperature-controlled handling at every step, from farm packing and regional consolidation to urban distribution and last-mile. This shift toward perishables and no-preservative products will require chilled or frozen storage, humidity control, and tighter dwell-time limits, boosting already growing demand for temperature-controlled facilities.
Current market trackers already report double-digit growth trajectories for food cold-chain logistics, citing demand for fresh/frozen products as the primary catalyst. Recent releases in July and August indicate forecasts for sustained expansion throughout the decade, with North America leading the way. This will be especially impactful in secondary cities in the U.S., where grocery e-commerce has grown, but cold storage facilities are aging and limited in number. The rise of grocery e-commerce deliveries has driven national demand for cold storage, as online orders require expanded chilled and frozen capacity to meet last-mile needs.
Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical sector is undergoing its own cold chain revolution. Temperature-sensitive GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro have rapidly transformed health care, delivering remarkable results for diabetes, weight loss and a growing list of health conditions. Their explosive popularity is prompting the industrial logistics real estate sector to deliver sophisticated, temperature-controlled distribution centers capable of supporting safe and efficient delivery of the new therapies at all stages of the supply chain.
We may see additional demand from other therapeutics. According to the IQVIA Institute, nearly half of all medicines expected to be launched in the next five years will require cold storage during manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution. A new wave of drugs called biologics, derived from living organisms such as bacteria or even human cells, is hitting the market and is expected to grow exponentially in the coming decade. These drugs all require tightly temperature-controlled environments. This is forcing pharmaceutical companies, third-party logistics (3PL) providers, and industrial real estate developers to rethink how and where to build their facilities.
Developers like Greek Real Estate Partners (GREP) have been at the forefront of the cold storage trend. Ten years ago, GREP delivered a highly specialized cold-storage facility for a Swiss pharmaceutical client. Today, its portfolio includes multiple properties designed to accommodate pharmaceutical-grade cold storage and clean room infrastructure. For example, the Logan North Industrial Park development near Philadelphia includes 100 Crossroads Boulevard, a 164,317-square-foot building equipped with advanced mechanical systems and an office component, both of which are positioned to accommodate GMP compliance.
Only 30 miles from Philadelphia, 120 Phyllis Drive features a newly constructed 141,276-square-foot facility that includes an array of distribution features designed to support cold storage. The facility is now fully leased to PCI Pharma Services, a leading pharmaceutical supply chain company that handles temperature-sensitive drug products. 16 Elkins Road in East Brunswick, New Jersey, features advanced interiors and is fully leased to a pharma lab outfitted with high-performance HVAC, cleanroom features, and dust-collection systems. With over a decade of cold storage expertise, GREP is well-positioned to meet the evolving demands of both the food and pharma sectors.
Modern industrial facilities like this must be flexible, with market-leading power capacity and thermal insulation to support cold chain distribution. They must also meet demanding distribution timelines and regulatory compliance, maintaining tight temperature tolerances while accommodating specialized handling equipment and often meeting FDA standards. Epoxy resin flooring, pressurized clean rooms, backup generators, and sophisticated monitoring systems are just a few of the features that are becoming standard in modern pharma facilities.
United States trade barriers on medicines produced overseas could further impact the pharmaceutical supply chain, prompting significant domestic manufacturing activity, including facilities capable of supporting GMP-certified operations, clean room environments, and the logistics required to quickly and compliantly distribute drugs.
As the pharmaceutical sector continues to shift toward biologics, specialty drugs, and temperature-sensitive treatments—and if America fully embraces MAHA—the cold storage supply chain will have to evolve. It will become fresher, faster, and more complex, rewarding operators that can deliver temperature integrity and responsiveness at scale.
David Greek is the managing partner at Greek Real Estate Partners
