Globally, postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables are a critical challenge, especially in developing countries with high ambient temperatures. In sub-Saharan Africa and India, 30–50% of production is lost annually, with around 20% due to inefficient cold chain and inadequate postharvest management. Effective cooling management immediately after harvest is essential: at 35 °C, even a 1-hour delay can reduce shelf life by an entire day. These inefficiencies reduce smallholder incomes (~15%) and account for ~4.4 Gt CO₂,eq, about 8% of global emissions. Shelf life is mainly extended through cold storage facilities, which today rely on vapor compression refrigeration (VCR) systems to control both temperature and relative humidity. However, VCR units require high capital investment and stable electricity supply, which is often lacking or unreliable in rural areas of developing countries, limiting access to efficient postharvest solutions. In this context, and whenever water availability is not a constraint, evaporative cooling stands out as one of the most promising alternatives. By exploiting the latent heat of water evaporation to cool ambient air, low-cost cold storage chambers can be realized. Direct (DEC), indirect (IEC), and dew point evaporative cooling (DPEC) cycles are the most advanced, with DPEC approaching dew point temperature, surpassing the wet-bulb temperature limit of DEC and IEC while achieving a coefficient of performance (COP), the ratio of cooling effect to absorbed energy, two to three times higher than VCR. Nevertheless, their current application is still exclusively confined to summer cooling of agro-industrial buildings. The proposed project aims to accelerate the roadmap to field deployment of more sustainable cooling solutions starting from the application of DPEC technology to the development of a lab-scale cold storage chamber, passing through its design, construction, and experimental validation. The goal is to lower storage temperature compared to existing systems, limit the relative humidity, and thereby extend product shelf life while accounting for the specific physiological requirements of crops, which respond differently to temperature and relative humidity. The project is conceived as a zero-energy device, crucial for resource-limited settings, but also potentially relevant for high-value markets, where strengthening cold chain efficiency is strategic to preserve the quality and economic value of horticultural products. Examples include cherries and grapes which require immediate postharvest cooling to maintain sensory and commercial quality. In such cases, DPEC could be coupled with a VCR system primarily to reduce energy consumption thereby contributing to more sustainable and resilient postharvest supply chains.