The World Food Logistics Organization (WFLO) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the proper handling and storage of perishable products and the development of systems and best practices for the safe, efficient, and reliable movement of food to the people of the world. Founded in 1943 as The Refrigeration Research Foundation (TRRF), the foundation took its initial support from contributions from refrigerated warehouse professionals. The name was changed in 1995 to The Refrigeration Research and Education Foundation (TRREF), to better reflect the increasingly important education functions of the foundation. In 1999 the name was changed again to more clearly depict the broad scope of the organization’s work. The foundation then became known as the World Food Logistics Organization.

The WFLO Board of Governors is comprised of refrigerated warehouse, distribution, and logistics professionals and academic, civic, and business leaders interested in promoting the distribution of perishable commodities to consumers, particularly the citizens of less developed nations. The WFLO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, is supported by a Scientific Advisory Council comprised of leading food scientists.

WFLO membership includes all active members of the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW) plus many companies in other areas of the food industry which support WFLO goals.

WFLO offers a variety of educational programs, including an annual four-day training Institute serving refrigerated warehouse professionals and other food industry personnel. Since 1969, the Institute has been held on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. A similar program, the WFLO European Education Program has been held since 1998.

WFLO also supports a wide variety of research projects in food science, over 140 in the past 57 years, on such subjects as food packaging, tempering parameters, temperature control during transportation, mobility threshold temperatures, refrigeration technology, and shelf life determination, as well as a computer program for determining freezing times.

WFLO publishes periodicals and manuals, such as the Commodity Storage Manual, which contains critical information on the handling and storage of more than 200 different food products. CSM descriptions cover temperature, humidity, freezing points, storage periods, shelf life, diseases, disorders, canning, drying, preparation, and processing. Questions which are not specifically addressed in the CSM can be referred to the WFLO inquiry service and channeled to a food scientist specializing in the particular commodity.

The WFLO Information Center comprises both physical and virtual materials on handling temperature-sensitive products, operating a public refrigerated warehouse, and other related topics.  WFLO continues to invest in this important resource, which will soon be available to members online.

WFLO members have special expertise in the safe and proper handling and storage of foods throughout what is now called “the cold chain.” WFLO offers an international education and consultancy program to assist government agencies, companies, and industries in implementing safe and improved food distribution. WFLO has provided major support in establishing professional associations of refrigerated warehouse professionals in China, Japan, and Vietnam and has been recognized by the US Department of Agriculture for assisting in missions in Brazil, China, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, Thailand, and other emerging markets.