Cool Chain Association looks to refine perishables shipping

Two flower consignments recently tracked by the Cool Chain Association and Perishable Products Export Control Board from farm to table found that temperatures averaged 5 degrees Celsius higher than recommended, shortening the stems’ vase life. [caption id="attachment_57134252" align="alignright" width="300"] Vijan Chetty, Cool Chain Association board member and Perishable Products Export Control Board general manager, speaks at Air Cargo Africa 2023. (Photo/CCA)[/caption] The Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) is South Africa’s perishable produce export certification agency. Cool Chain Association (CCA) plans to conduct more trials on other perishables and draft a best practice handling procedure for perishables. “The scope of the trials is to conduct a few trials reviewing variables within the supply chain for a few products,” Vijan Chetty, CCA board member and PPECB g eneral manager, told Air Cargo Next . Once the trials are completed and analyzed, the best-practice handling procedure will be composed, Chetty said. CCA anticipates writing the procedure in the third quarter of 2023. Initial trials find issues About 23,000 tons of flowers are exported annually from South Africa, according to Chetty. [caption id="attachment_57134253" align="alignleft" width="300"] This table shows the descriptive statistics on the temperature data from both consignments. (Photo/PPECB)[/caption] The PPECB pilot trial — conducted in collaboration with Arnelia Farms , a South African wholesale flower nursery and exporter — tracked two separate flower consignments that were packed in boxes and palletized on-farm in the Western Cape province of South Africa, and then shipped via refrigerated truck for a two-hour journey before flying from Cape Town International Airport (CPT) to the Netherlands and Germany. Trial results showed that mean temperatures reached 10.4 C and 9.3 C for the two consignments, higher than the 5 C recommended for cut flowers. Chetty noted that, although the flowers arrived in acceptable condition, vase life will be shortened due to temperature fluctuations. “Quality handling practices and cool chain management are an integrated process that cannot be reviewed in isolation and this trial already shows that post-harvest handling and the first mile of every product plays an important role in determining a product’s quality,” Chetty said. [caption id="attachment_57134255" align="alignright" width="300"] This graph shows temperature logs for the duration of the trial for consignment No. 2 with trip events highlighted. (Photo/PPECB)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_57134254" align="alignnone" width="300"] This graph shows temperature logs for the duration of the trial for consignment No. 1 with trip events highlighted. (Photo/PPECB)[/caption] These temperature-tracking graphs show the temperature excursions for both consignments. In the graphs, the circled area is the consignment being loaded onto the truck and transported to the airport. Point A is the consignment being received by the courier, Point B is the departure from CPT, Point C is the arrival at the destination airport and Point D is the consignment being delivered to the client. “ There are many factors that could have contributed to the exceedance in the threshold temperatures , ” Chetty said , stressing that airlines cannot handle all products in the safe fashion. Special care must be taken with perishables in order to prevent food loss and waste. The next steps PPECB plans to conduct trials with other perishable items, such as berries, and to compare the cool chain, shelf life and quality of commodities moved by air versus sea. “The CCA and the PPECB will review the carton design to determine airflow patterns, the temperature management along the value chain, the preparation of the cargo to be airfreighted and any potential delays,” Chetty said. “The tarmac is still identified as a risk. The highest temperature exceedance occurred during the load of the aircraft.” CCA is made up of about 40 groups in the temperature-sensitive supply chain , including Air Bridge Cargo , Brussels Airport (BRU), Cargolux , Dallas Fort Worth Airport (DFW), DHL , Etihad Cargo , ITA Airways Cargo , KLM , Qatar Airways Cargo , Liege Airport (LGG) and Swiss WorldCargo .

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