What It’s Like Inside a Cold Storage Facility | Eater

"A massive temperature-controlled cold-storage warehouse in Ontario, California that serves as a vital node in the modern cold chain. The 100,000-square-foot space—housing roughly 7,000 pallet positions and often operating at about 95% capacity—stores an enormous variety of perishables (an estimated $100 million worth of product), from ground beef destined for school lunches and frozen lobsters bound for restaurants to pallet-after-pallet of Danone-related dairy and nondairy lines such as Horizon chocolate milk, Land O’Lakes creamer, Silk soy milk, and countless tubs and cartons of yogurt (Stonyfield Farm, Dannon Light + Fit, COCOYO, Oikos). It runs at extreme temperatures (about 3 degrees in the coolers, 36–38 on the dock, and minus 10 in the freezer), processes roughly 120 truckloads a day, and enforces strict stocking rules—date order, separation of allergens and organic vs. conventional products, odor management (onions, seafood, pizza and pepperoni can taint other goods), and careful pallet weight distribution—to keep product intact. The work is physically demanding and specialized (stand-up reach-forklift experience is required; new hires spend 90 days doing stocking and picking), the environment is dim and noisy (forklift beeps, roaring fans, LED spotlights), and employees contend with cumulative cold-related discomforts and routine illnesses—yet many take pride in the otherwise “invisible” labor that ensures supermarket shelves are stocked." - Nicola Twilley