Overview

The Food Corporation of Bhutan Ltd. (FCBL) has the largest network of warehouses throughout the country. It has 47 warehouses and transit stores across 20 districts of Bhutan with total storage capacity of 19,000 MT. Furthermore, it has currently 119 farm shops, each with minimum storage capacity of 5 mt, located in the remote corners of country, which can be used as mini storage if needed. There is a plan to expand to a total of 205 farm shops across the country. Although some of the warehouses are not up to standard, in terms of storage of food items, WFP considers that Bhutan has adequate capacity.

On the flipside, there are no identified warehouses for storage of non-food items except for very few district and central stores. Furthermore, there are not many commercial storage facilities available in Bhutan. During emergencies, one possibility could to use school auditoriums as warehouses since schools are located in each and every districts and sub-districts and furthermore, during emergencies, classes might be empty and thus could be converted into temporary emergency stores. This is however not a preferred option as it would delay the return to normal functioning of schools for their education roles.

FCBL maintains the "National Food Security Reserve” held in strategic warehouses throughout the country. This was established originally with assistance from WFP in 1991. The food stock consists of some 1,400 mt of rice, 200 mt of sugar and 58 mtof cooking oil.  The table below provides the locations where these reserves are held. However, considering the population growth, the CEO of FCBL projects that Bhutan presently might require around 4,150 mt (3,500 mt Rice, 300 mt Oil, 250 mt Sugar and 100 mt Salt) to provide for the needs of some 12 percent (poverty index based on 2012 figures) of the population for three months. The distribution across the country might also need a review once the data of the latest sensus are available.

National Food Security Reserve Stock Level 

 For more information on storage company contact details, please see the following link:

4.6 Bhutan Storage and Milling Companies Contact List

Commercial Storage 

Commercial storage facilities are almost non-existent in Bhutan except a handful of them located in Phuentsholing. Notable commercial storage are as follows:

[1] Warehouse Type: Open storage, container, rub-hall, silo, concrete, other, unspecified

[2] Warehouse Access: Raised-siding, flat

[3] Warehouse condition: Appears intact, appears damaged, under construction/repair

Storage Used by Humanitarian Organizations

The World Food Programme Country Office in Bhutan uses the Food Corporation of Bhutan Ltd (FCBL) warehouses to store its food and non-food items. FCBL has three main warehouses at Phuentsholing, Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar and many other transit warehouses all over Bhutan. FCBL is amenable when it comes to sharing the warehouse space with other humanitarian agencies provided they get prior approval from their management. The table below shows various warehouses used by WFP and UNICEF.

[1] Warehouse Type: Open storage, container, rub-hall, silo, concrete, other, unspecified

[2] Warehouse Access: Raised-siding, flat

[3] Warehouse condition: Appears intact, appears damaged, under construction/repair

Public Sector Storage

Most of public warehouses in Bhutan are those owned by the Food Corporation of Bhutan Ltd. The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education have some central stores located in a few places to store essential school stationery and medicines, but they are very few in number and grossly inadequate. The Department of Disaster Management (DDM), with assistance from UNICEF have issued some emergency kits to all the districts which are stored, in small rooms, at the respective district headquarters. The table below provides the details of various public warehouses.

[1] Warehouse Type: Open storage, container, rub-hall, silo, concrete, other, unspecified

[2] Warehouse Access: Raised-siding, flat

[3] Warehouse condition: Appears intact, appears damaged, under construction/repair

Cold Chain

Currently WHO and UNICEF do not have cold chain storage facilities in Bhutan. However, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has a limited cold chain network across the country for storage of essential vaccines and medicines. FCBL on the other hand has three cold chain networks located at Phuentsholing, Samdrup Jongkhar and Thimphu with total storage capacity of 550 MT. The table below provides the details of cold storage facilities within the country:

[1] Cold Room Positive, Cold Room Negative, Refrigerator, Freezer,

[2] Compression, Absorption, Solar, Other, unspecified

Disclaimer: Inclusion of company information in the LCA does not imply any business relationship between the supplier and WFP / Logistics Cluster, and is used solely as a determinant of services, and capacities.

Please note: WFP / Logistics Cluster maintain complete impartiality and are not in a position to endorse, comment on any company's suitability as a reputable service provider.