Refrigerated vans are not always the best option for last-mile grocery delivery

Last-mile grocery delivery has become one of the most demanding segments in retail logistics. Short delivery windows, mixed product baskets, urban congestion and rising sustainability expectations all converge at the same point: temperature control during the final kilometres of the journey.
Active refrigeration remains a reference solution in cold chain logistics. It is essential for long routes, high-risk temperature profiles and operations requiring continuous in-transit control. However, as e-grocery and food retail models evolve, refrigerated vans are no longer the default answer for every last-mile scenario.
This article explores how active and passive cold chain approaches coexist, and why many retailers complement refrigerated transport with passive packaging solutions in the last mile.

Active refrigeration as the industry benchmark

Refrigerated vehicles provide active temperature control, established compliance frameworks and operational familiarity. For long-distance distribution or highly variable delivery times, they remain the most reliable option.

That said, last-mile grocery delivery today differs significantly from traditional food distribution:

• Orders are smaller and more frequent
• Routes are shorter but denser
• Deliveries are increasingly urban
• Baskets often combine chilled and frozen products
• In these conditions, applying vehicle-level refrigeration to every delivery introduces specific operational trade-offs.

Understanding the trade-offs in last-mile contexts

Using refrigerated vans in the last mile can involve challenges that are not always visible at first glance:

• Fixed temperature zones that limit flexibility when handling mixed baskets
• Energy use at vehicle level, even when payloads are small
• Scalability constraints, as growth often requires additional vehicles and drivers
• Urban considerations, including emissions, noise and access regulations

For short and predictable routes, these factors can outweigh the benefits of continuous active cooling.

Passive cold chain packaging as a complementary approach

Passive temperature-controlled packaging solutions use insulated packaging combined with thermal accumulators, such as PCM packs, to maintain temperature without active energy input during transport.

In last-mile grocery delivery, they are commonly used to:

• Maintain chilled (typically 2–8 °C) and frozen temperatures
• Protect products during short to medium delivery windows
• Enable flexible routing without vehicle-level temperature constraints

Rather than cooling the entire vehicle, temperature control is applied only where it is required: around the product itself.

When passive solutions add the most value

Passive cold chain packaging is particularly effective when:

• Delivery times are predictable
• Routes are urban or suburban
• Orders include mixed baskets (fresh and frozen)
• Vehicles are multi-purpose or shared
• Energy efficiency and sustainability are key priorities

Many retailers rely on reusable insulated containers that are pre-conditioned in the warehouse and loaded into standard delivery vehicles, while still using active refrigeration upstream.

When active refrigeration remains essential

Active refrigeration continues to be the preferred solution when:

• Delivery times are long or highly variable
• Routes span large geographic areas
• Ambient conditions are extreme or unpredictable
• Continuous temperature adjustment is required in transit

In practice, the most efficient cold chain strategies combine active and passive solutions, selecting the right approach for each segment of the journey.

Real-world last-mile operations

Across Europe, grocery retailers and logistics providers increasingly complement refrigerated transport with passive cold chain packaging for last-mile delivery. Reusable insulated containers with configurable thermal setups allow chilled and frozen products to be delivered on the same route, without dedicating entire fleets to vehicle-level refrigeration.

Companies like Tempack design passive packaging systems specifically for food retail, e-grocery and last-mile delivery, focusing on operational flexibility, temperature reliability and reusability — always as part of a broader cold chain ecosystem.

Choosing the right balance

There is no single solution for last-mile temperature control.

Active refrigeration remains a cornerstone of cold chain logistics, while passive solutions provide efficiency and flexibility in specific last-mile scenarios. Understanding how both approaches work together allows retailers to build more resilient, efficient and future-ready delivery operations.