Kamigumi builds its own cold storage warehouse: a tailwind for food exports to Vietnam

Logistics major Kamigumi is making a full-scale entry into Vietnam's cold chain (temperature-controlled logistics) through investment of its own. The company has increased capital in its local subsidiary to build a refrigerated and frozen warehouse, and has also taken a stake in an existing refrigerated and frozen warehouse operator. For Japanese companies dealing with frozen or chilled food, or temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals, for the Vietnamese market, this is a concrete sign that 'the storage and transport infrastructure side is starting to fall into place.' The more a company has held off expanding locally due to a lack of warehouse capacity, the more directly this move affects its own plans.

The two moves Kamigumi made

The starting point was an announcement on June 26, 2026. Kamigumi is increasing capital in its Vietnamese subsidiary, Kamigumi Logistics Vietnam (KLV). The capital increase is VND 200 billion (approx. JPY 1.23 billion), bringing the capital after the increase to VND 650 billion (approx. JPY 4 billion). The payment is scheduled for July. Yen conversions are calculated at 1 JPY = approx. VND 162, and this article uses that assumption.

With these funds, Kamigumi will build a warehouse in the Phu My 3 Specialized Industrial Park, in the Tan Phuoc ward area of Ho Chi Minh City. The breakdown is 9,538 square meters of general warehouse and 4,010 square meters of refrigerated and frozen warehouse. The cold storage building will be designed so that temperature can be controlled throughout. Construction is scheduled to start in April 2027 and complete in September 2028. The plan originally called for a general warehouse only, but after re-examining local demand, part of it was switched to refrigerated and frozen storage. This is the crux of the story: Kamigumi judged on its own that there was demand for 'boxes that keep things cold' and changed the design accordingly.

Furthermore, on July 2, Kamigumi announced it had acquired a 50% stake in the existing refrigerated and frozen warehouse operator CLK COLD STORAGE. CLK was founded in 2015 with capital of USD 18.4 million (approx. JPY 3 billion) and has operated a cold chain in Tan Dong Hiep B Industrial Park in Ho Chi Minh City, holding itself to Japanese-standard quality control. The partner in this collaboration is Nippon Logitem, which has more than 30 years of business experience in Vietnam. Kamigumi has thus made two moves almost simultaneously: the time-consuming path of building its own facility, and the path of securing an already-operating warehouse.

Why refrigerated and frozen storage now

Phu My 3 Industrial Park is a cluster where several Japanese manufacturers have decided to build factories, and as operations get underway, demand for warehousing to store raw materials and products will grow. Kamigumi switched part of its general warehouse to refrigerated and frozen storage because it judged that, around this industrial park, some cargo would be missed if only ambient-temperature storage were available. The same phenomenon is occurring in various FDI clusters in the north and south where factories are increasing.

Behind this is the structural fact that Vietnam's cold chain has a chronic capacity shortage. In major cities and ports, demand for refrigerated warehouses exceeds supply, keeping utilization rates persistently high. The market was estimated at around USD 230 million as of 2025 and is expected to grow at an annual rate of about 11% from 2026 onward. Despite being a country whose seafood exports exceed USD 9 billion a year, it lacks enough capacity to reliably store and transport fresh and frozen goods. Into this gap, a major Japanese company has now invested on two fronts.

Reading the two investments side by side

The new warehouse will come online in the fall of 2028, and the existing CLK facility fills the gap until then. Kamigumi has secured 'refrigerated capacity it can use right away' and 'its own future site' as separate, distinct tracks. From a shipper's point of view, both refrigerated space available within 2026 and the company's own warehouse capacity growing from 2028 onward are visible under the umbrella of the same logistics company.

How it is being received locally and in the industry

A person involved with a Japanese food trading company based in Vietnam says they have had to delay launching new SKUs because they couldn't secure refrigerated warehouse space. According to the person on the ground, freezers near ports are nearly full, and during peak season bookings are filled months in advance. If Japanese logistics firms increase sites that put quality control front and center, this bottleneck could ease.

Another logistics practitioner points out that Vietnam's refrigerated warehouses offer few temperature-zone options, and that facilities capable of the fine temperature control required by pharmaceuticals and high-value-added foods are limited. Some see Kamigumi's building, designed for temperature control throughout, as a move aimed at capturing cargo in that segment. The fact that it has partnered with an operator like Nippon Logitem, which has been active locally for 30 years, is also seen as an investment made with a real understanding of customs clearance and delivery operations.

Still, since completion is not until the fall of 2028, the new warehouse will not resolve the near-term crunch. Existing CLK's handling capacity also has a ceiling. There are also sober views on the ground cautioning against excessive expectations.

Concrete steps for Japanese companies to take

This move directly affects Japanese companies dealing with frozen and chilled food or temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals in Vietnam. In practice, it's worth thinking through the following steps in order.

First, companies that want to hold local inventory now, rather than waiting for the 2028 new facility, should reach out early to secure space at CLK's operating refrigerated warehouse or similar Japanese-run sites. If the tightness continues, bookings will go to whoever moves first. Second, companies considering a factory or sales base near Phu My 3 can design their own logistics around the premise that Kamigumi's refrigerated and frozen building will come online in 2028. Having a warehouse nearby is a factor that supports the decision to add chilled products to a lineup that had assumed ambient-temperature only.

Third, for a company in food OEM or raw material supply, the thickening of storage infrastructure on the Vietnamese side translates into new proposal opportunities: 'we can hold local inventory' or 'we can keep it fresh longer.' Joint development premised on refrigeration, and lot design premised on local storage, become realistic options. In every case, it's faster to think in terms of 'which box our own cargo goes into, and when,' rather than surveying the whole market.

Impact on the market

The fact that a major Japanese company made both an in-house build and an equity investment at the same time raises the temperature for other logistics operators and shippers. Once refrigerated warehouses start to be seen as an investment target, follow-on supply will increase, moving the market toward easing the capacity shortage over the next few years. For the Vietnamese side, which has been attracting factories to its industrial parks, the growth of adjacent cold-chain logistics is also a factor for drawing in temperature-sensitive industries such as food and pharmaceuticals.

As a related development, it's also worth noting that Japanese food and seafood companies continue to invest in local processing. If production and storage both thicken in the same region, it becomes easier to build a consistent cold chain for exports. Kamigumi's investment is positioned as reinforcing the 'storage' part of that supply chain.

Summary: the next move

Kamigumi has secured both 'its own refrigerated and frozen warehouse coming online in 2028' and 'a stake in an existing warehouse usable right now,' moving into Vietnam's cold chain on two fronts at once. For Japanese companies that handle, or want to start handling, frozen and chilled food or temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals in Vietnam, there are three first steps to take: (1) reach out early to secure space at an operating Japanese-run refrigerated warehouse, (2) add the Phu My 3 area as a candidate site and design logistics around the 2028 completion, and (3) rework proposals for local inventory and joint development premised on refrigeration. Companies that have been holding off on Vietnam expansion because of a lack of warehouse capacity should especially treat these two announcements as a signal to revisit their plans.

Sources

• VIETJO Vietnam News, 'Logistics firm Kamigumi increases capital in Vietnamese subsidiary to build refrigerated and frozen warehouse'
• VIETJO Vietnam News, 'Kamigumi invests in Japanese-affiliated CLK, a refrigerated and frozen warehouse operator, partnering with Nippon Logitem'
• LNEWS, 'Kamigumi: JPY 1.22 billion capital increase in Vietnamese subsidiary to build refrigerated and frozen warehouse'