diff --git a/draco/core/io.py b/draco/core/io.py
index af88cd35e..afa783834 100644
--- a/draco/core/io.py
+++ b/draco/core/io.py
@@ -23,9 +23,10 @@
         files: ['file1.h5', 'file2.h5']
 """
 import os.path
+import shutil
+from typing import Union, Dict, List
 
 import numpy as np
-from typing import Union, Dict, List
 from yaml import dump as yamldump
 
 from caput import pipeline, config, fileformats, memh5, truncate
@@ -111,10 +112,10 @@ def _list_or_glob(files: Union[str, List[str]]) -> List[str]:
     if isinstance(files, str):
 
         # Check that it exists and is a file (or dir if zarr format)
-        if files.endswith("zarr"):
+        if files.endswith(".zarr"):
             if not os.path.isdir(files):
                 raise ConfigError(
-                    f"Expecting a zarr container, but directory not found: {files}"
+                    f"Expected a zarr directory store, but directory not found: {files}"
                 )
             return [files]
         else:
@@ -873,6 +874,112 @@ def process(self, data):
         return data
 
 
+class ZipZarrContainers(task.SingleTask):
+    """Zip up a Zarr container into a single file.
+
+    This is useful to save on file quota and speed up IO by combining the chunk
+    data into a single file. Note that the file cannot really be updated after
+    this process has been performed.
+
+    As this process is IO limited in most cases, it will attempt to parallelise
+    the compression across different distinct nodes. That means at most only
+    one rank per node will participate.
+
+    Attributes
+    ----------
+    containers : list
+        The names of the Zarr containers to compress. The zipped files will
+        have the same names with `.zip` appended.
+    remove : bool
+        Remove the original data when finished. Defaults to True.
+    """
+
+    containers = config.Property(proptype=list)
+    remove = config.Property(proptype=bool, default=True)
+
+    def setup(self, _=None):
+        """Setup the task.
+
+        This routine does nothing at all with the input, but it means the
+        process won't run until the (optional) requirement is received. This
+        can be used to delay evaluation until you know that all the files are
+        available.
+        """
+        import socket
+
+        # See if we can find 7z
+        path_7z = shutil.which("7z")
+        if path_7z is None:
+            raise RuntimeError("Could not find 7z on the PATH")
+        self._path_7z = path_7z
+
+        # Get the rank -> hostname mapping for all ranks
+        my_host = socket.gethostname()
+        my_rank = self.comm.rank
+        all_host_ranks = self.comm.allgather((my_host, my_rank))
+
+        # Identify the lowest rank running on each node
+        unique_hosts = {}
+        for host, rank in all_host_ranks:
+            if host not in unique_hosts:
+                unique_hosts[host] = rank
+            else:
+                if unique_hosts[host] > rank:
+                    unique_hosts[host] = rank
+
+        self._num_hosts = len(unique_hosts)
+
+        # Figure out if this rank is one that needs to do anything
+        if unique_hosts[my_host] != my_rank:
+            # This is not the lowest rank on the host, so we don't do anything
+            self._host_rank = None
+        else:
+            # This is the lowest rank, so find where we are in the sorted list of all hosts
+            self._host_rank = sorted(unique_hosts).index(my_host)
+            self.log.debug(f"Lowest rank on {my_host}")
+
+    def process(self):
+        """Compress the listed zarr containers.
+
+        Only the lowest rank on each node will participate.
+        """
+
+        if self._host_rank is not None:
+            import subprocess
+
+            # Get the set of containers this rank is responsible for compressing
+            my_containers = self.containers[self._host_rank :: self._num_hosts]
+
+            for container in my_containers:
+
+                self.log.info(f"Zipping {container}")
+
+                if not container.endswith(".zarr") or not os.path.isdir(container):
+                    raise ValueError(f"{container} is not a valid .zarr directory")
+
+                # Run 7z to zip up the file
+                dest_file = container + ".zip"
+                src_dir = container + "/."
+                command = [self._path_7z, "a", "-tzip", "-mx=0", dest_file, src_dir]
+                status = subprocess.run(command, capture_output=True)
+
+                if status.returncode != 0:
+                    self.log.debug("Error occurred while zipping. Debug logs follow...")
+                    self.log.debug(f"stdout={status.stdout}")
+                    self.log.debug(f"stderr={status.stderr}")
+                    raise RuntimeError(f"Error occurred while zipping {container}.")
+
+                self.log.info(f"Done zipping. Generated {dest_file}.")
+
+                if self.remove:
+                    shutil.rmtree(container)
+                    self.log.info(f"Removed original container {container}.")
+
+        self.comm.Barrier()
+
+        raise pipeline.PipelineStopIteration
+
+
 class SaveModuleVersions(task.SingleTask):
     """Write module versions to a YAML file.