What refrigerated lockers are, how they keep chilled and frozen food at safe temperatures, and who uses them, from grocers to food banks.
A refrigerated locker is a secure, temperature-controlled pickup point. Grocers use them to hand over chilled and frozen orders without a staffed counter. Food banks use them to give neighbors private, after-hours access to fresh food. Either way, the goal is the same: the order stays at a safe temperature from the moment it is loaded until the moment it is collected.
This guide covers how refrigerated lockers work, how they keep food safe, who uses them, and the questions worth asking before you choose a system.
Refrigerated lockers are smart lockers built with a cooling system, insulated cabinets, and connected controls. They look and work like a parcel locker. Staff or volunteers load an order into a compartment, the recipient gets a pickup code, and they collect when it suits them.
The difference is what they can hold. Dairy, produce, meat, prepared meals, and frozen goods can wait in a refrigerated locker for hours without breaking the cold chain. That turns pickup into a 24/7 option for the orders that are hardest to hand over.
Most systems combine temperature zones. Click n Collect refrigerated lockers run refrigerated, freezer, controlled-ambient, and heated cabinets from a single terminal, so a full grocery order or a mixed food box is collected in one visit.
Four things keep an order cold between loading and pickup.
The result is a locker that does not depend on someone checking a thermometer. The system watches the temperature, acts on it, and keeps a record.
| Zone | Temperature range | Typical contents |
|---|---|---|
| Refrigerated | 36 to 40°F (2 to 4°C) | Dairy, produce, meat, deli, prepared meals, meal kits, beverages |
| Frozen | -3 to 0°F (-19 to -18°C) | Frozen meals, frozen protein, ice cream, frozen produce |
| Controlled ambient | 50 to 59°F (10 to 15°C) | Bakery, bananas, potatoes, pantry staples, hygiene kits |
| Heated | Up to 145°F (63°C) | Hot meals and prepared food for meal pickup |
The refrigerated and frozen ranges sit inside FDA guidance to keep refrigerated food at or below 40°F and frozen food at 0°F.
Compare cabinet sizes and door layouts for freezer lockers and refrigerated lockers, or explore controlled-ambient lockers and heated lockers to round out a system.
Online grocery reached a record 20.9% of US grocery spending in the third quarter of 2026, and nearly 64% of households shopped online for groceries in September, according to Brick Meets Click. Every one of those orders has to be handed over, and chilled and frozen items are the hardest part.
Refrigerated lockers give grocers a pickup point that runs without a staffed counter. Orders are loaded when they are picked, customers collect on their schedule, and stores handle more pickups at peak times without adding staff. Read more in solving the pickup puzzle.
Retailers selling food, beverages, flowers, or other temperature-sensitive goods use refrigerated cabinets alongside standard parcel lockers. One terminal serves buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) orders across every temperature class.
Food banks and pantries use refrigerated lockers to offer private, stigma-free pickup outside staffed hours. Neighbors who work shifts, study, or care for family can collect fresh food on their own time. Because the lockers hold produce, dairy, and protein safely, programs can distribute more of the fresh and donated food they receive.
Most nonprofit programs run refrigerated cabinets alone or refrigerated and frozen together. Click n Collect works with 50+ nonprofit partners across the US. Learn more about nonprofit and charitable food lockers and rethinking food access with smart food lockers.
Colleges use refrigerated lockers to run campus food pantries with discreet, flexible pickup. Health systems and clinics use them for food-as-medicine and produce prescription programs, where a referral leads to a locker order rather than a line.
At Contra Costa College in California, the Compass Market food pantry runs 20 refrigerated smart lockers in the campus cafeteria with the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano. At Fox Valley Technical College in Wisconsin, the OrderAhead program with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin uses temperature-controlled smart lockers to serve students. More in campus food pantry lockers.
Yes, when the system is built to monitor and protect every order. Look for four things.
Pickup windows matter too. Most operators set a collection window for each order and follow up on anything left uncollected, so food is not stored longer than the program intends.
Whether you are equipping one pantry or rolling out across a supermarket chain, ask every supplier the same questions.
| What to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What temperature zones can one terminal run? | Mixed zones let one visit cover a full order |
| How is temperature monitored, and what happens when a cabinet is out of range? | Automatic lockout protects food safety without manual checks |
| What happens during a power or network outage? | Battery backup and alerts keep the system recoverable |
| Does it integrate with our order, POS, and CRM systems? | Integration removes manual order entry at scale |
| Does it work without custom development? | Faster go-live, with integration added when you need it |
| What cabinet sizes and door layouts are available? | Sizing follows orders waiting at any one time, not total volume |
| Can we add cabinets later? | Modular systems grow with demand |
| Is it rated for outdoor sites? | An outdoor placement needs an enclosure and roof built for it |
| What certifications does it carry? | UL and NSF certification signal tested electrical and food safety |
| How do recipients collect? | QR code or PIN access with no app removes a barrier for every user |
| What support is included, and for how long? | Lockers run daily for years, so service matters as much as hardware |
For grocery and retail chains, add two more: how multi-site rollouts are managed and reported, and how the platform scales from one store to hundreds.
See refrigerated and freezer lockers →
Tell us what you are storing, where the lockers will go, and who will collect from them. We will help you size the system, choose the zones, and plan the site.
Get in touch -> or download the temperature-controlled product brochure. Running a food program? Work through the smart food locker planning guide for food banks and pantries. Planning a retail or grocery rollout? Start with the retail locker buyer's guide.
Whether you want to increase sales, improve customer experience, facilitate parcel pickups after hours, or reach more people in need, we’ve got you covered.
Chilled and frozen orders wait at the right temperature until the shopper arrives, so your team stays on the floor.
Explore grocery lockersCustomers collect with a code in seconds, before or after store hours. At Muscat Duty Free, travelers pick up orders on arrival without waiting in line.
Explore retail lockers
Neighbors collect fresh and frozen food privately, on their own schedule. Food banks, pantries, and health clinics use our lockers to reach neighbors who can't make distribution hours.
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