How Much Does a 1,200-Ton Garlic Cold Store Cost? (Area, Price & Profitability)

Garlic is a high-volume, low-margin crop—unless you control when to sell. Without cold storage, post-harvest losses hit 20–30%, and prices crash during harvest season. With proper cold storage, you can hold inventory and sell at 2–3x higher prices 6 months later.

Here’s a realistic, turnkey breakdown.

📦 Storage Capacity: Can You Really Store 1,200 Tons?

💡 Layout includes aisles, ventilation gaps, and loading zones—no overpacking.

💰 Total Investment: What You Actually Pay

A turnkey garlic cold room (1,200m², 0–2°C, 65–75% RH) typically costs:

210,000– 260,000 USD

Key System Features:

• Temperature: 0–2°C (prevents sprouting & weight loss)
• Humidity: 65–75% RH (prevents shriveling without promoting mold)
• Insulation: 120mm PU panels with aluminum cladding (rodent-resistant)
• Ventilation: Forced-air circulation every 2 hours (critical for ethylene removal)
• Monitoring: Cloud-based system with SMS alerts for temp/humidity drift

⚠️ Never store garlic below 0°C—it causes freezing injury and rapid decay.

🌍 Real-World Insight

A garlic farmers’ co-op in Kartasura, Indonesia built a 1,200m² cold store to serve 200+ smallholders:

• Total Cost: $ 235,000 USD
• Capacity: 1,220 metric tons
• Result:
  • Reduced post-harvest loss from 28% → 5%
  • Sold 70% of stock 4–6 months post-harvest at 2.4x harvest price
  • Secured export contracts with UAE and Saudi spice importers
  • Achieved full ROI in 14 months

“Before cold storage, we begged traders to buy. Now, we negotiate.”
— Chairperson, Central Java Garlic Cooperative

🔍 Why Garlic Needs Specialized Cold Storage

Unlike fruits or meat, garlic requires:
✅ Low temperature (0–2°C) to suppress sprouting
✅ Moderate humidity (not too wet!) to avoid mold
✅ Regular air exchange to remove ethylene and CO₂
✅ Darkness—light triggers greening and bitterness
Standard “vegetable cold rooms” often fail because they run at 4–8°C—perfect for lettuce, but disastrous for garlic.