Biggest cold storage in the Valley planning to get even bigger

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It's not your typical summer weather inside Fresno's US Cold Storage. Temperatures can reach freezing or even as cold as -60 degrees.

US Cold Storage General Manager Kris Sali said, "Normally you can see your breath and glasses fog up, that's part of the business."

The Fresno business takes products mostly grown, or made in the Valley, and stores them in cold or freezing temperatures until they're shipped out to stores.

Workers have to be dressed from head to toe for the cold work.

"It gets pretty cold. The guys do a good job of keeping the work going while in this kind of environment, but we have these heated suits, but its definitely a harsher environment than what people are used to, but in the summer its actually pretty nice," said Sali.

About 120 million pounds of food is stored on shelves, from Wawona peaches to Challenge butter to McDonald's hamburgers patties. The cold temperatures are vital to keeping the quality as it travels from the Valley across the nation and even across the world.

"We try to do the best we can to make sure the food is safe because people are going to eat this," said Sali.

Besides holding the product, they also do flash freezing to -60 degrees.

More than 100 employees help run what is already the biggest cold storage in the Valley, and more will be hired for their new facility.

Because of the demand, US Cold Storage will be expanding. Their second facility in Fresno, just down the road, opens in August.