At the recent Annual General Meeting of the Cool Chain Association (CCA) in Paris (20-21 May 2014) some of the issues surrounding structural changes in the supply chains for perishable food and flowers were debated by a group of experts representing shippers, analysts, logistics and industry specialists from over the world.
Evidence was presented showing that some shippers of perishable foods and flowers are steadily migrating from air freight to sea freight. According to the CCA it is time for the air cargo industry to counter this by adopt a more innovative and integrated approach to its delivery of temperature managed logistics.
Perishable food
Recent research from Seabury Group shows that the transportation of perishable food and flowers by air has dropped substantially over the past 13 years as the shipping sector steadily nibbles away at the air industry’s share of the market. From around 7% by weight of all air and ocean international perishable trade in 2000 to just 4% in 2013, this deterioration has worrying implications due to the fact that perishables represent a significant proportion, around 13%, of total world air trade. The loss equates to a shift of about 1.1 million tonnes of perishable merchandise to a shipping industry which has actively courted the perishables sector by better understanding its needs and by investing in the necessary coolchain infrastructure for improved reliability and performance.
