he slogan for British Food Fortnight two years ago proudly proclaimed: “Grown Here, Not Flown Here.” The concept reflected a view that for some people, airfreighting fresh produce into the UK did not make environmental and economic sense.
However, in the real world it’s not quite that simple. According to the FPC, around 60 per cent of fruit and vegetables are imported into the UK, providing produce outside the UK season as well as varieties which cannot be grown in the UK.
Around 40 per cent of all airfreighted fresh fruit and veg come from sub-Saharan Africa and the vast majority of this (32,500 tonnes) comes from Kenya, sending 91 per cent of all its fresh fruit and vegetable exports to the UK by air. The next biggest source of airfreighted fresh fruit and vegetable exports is Ghana, with 8,000 tonnes [FPC].
Although it’s predicted that fresh fruit and vegetable consumption is likely to grow, and that airfreight is expected to increase, the relationship between these two trends is complex. DEFRA suggests that there are several factors influencing the proportion of fresh produce airfreighted. Firstly, the increasing international trade in fresh fruit and vegetables has raised concerns about the distance that food travels and the emissions associated with its transport.
The Soil Association proposed changes in the certification criteria for the labelling of airfreighted organic fruit and vegetables, suggesting it be called organic1. But it’s by no means clear that labelling food which is airfreighted would reduce emissions overall and therefore be the favoured option.
According to Bill Vorley of the International Institute for Environment and Development, airfreight of fresh fruits and vegetables from sub-Saharan Africa accounts for less than 0.1 per cent of total UK carbon emissions. He claims that far greater emissions result from the domestic transport of food goods within the UK.
Changing consumer preferences is another factor that has led to an increase in airfreighted goods, with demand for exotic fruits such as lychees and dragonfruit, pre-packed fruit salads as well as out-of-season produce like asparagus, strawberries and baby sweetcorn.
Also, changes in produce specification requirements such as added value - peeled fruit or ready-to-go salad - may increase airfreight requirements. The incentive here is that added-value produce tends to have a higher ratio of economic value to carbon cost.
Away from that ongoing debate, it’s been a tough year for the airfreight industry, coping with last year’s ash clouds, industrial action and rising fuel costs. Despite these challenges, Dave Barron, Norbert Dentressangle’s global commercial director, remains bullish, indicating the company is experiencing double-digit growth in perishables.
Last September, Norbert Dentressangle opened offices in Chile and Brazil as part of the continued development of its freight-forwarding business. The new operations, in Santiago and São Paulo, strengthen the company’s global presence.
“This year is shaping up well for us,” says Barron. “Of course you do have to appreciate that NDO as an organisation is fairly new. We entered the freight-forwarding business in 2010. We are growing year on year, through organic growth and further acquisitions. We opened in Latin America in April/May 2011, so we’ve built the business through 2011 and it’s much stronger in 2012. We opened in Brazil in September 2011, so again, 2012 will be much stronger for us.”
Pinpointing the reasons for the company’s success, Barron believes it’s all about focusing on niche industries such as perishables and creating the correct infrastructure. “We hired a team in Santiago, Chile, who we knew had huge experience in the movement of perishable goods, so they’ve managed to use that experience, knowledge and contacts in the industry to first of all get us robust operational solutions out of that region of the world and strong commercial arrangements to be able to convert business, which is what we’ve managed to do.”
Barron sees the growth regions specifically in Latin America and also India, but the challenge is in improving the infrastructure in developing countries to be upgraded to western standards, and Barron also cites the significant amount of wastage in fresh produce that needs to be addressed.
With the amount of tonnage that needs to be shifted - ND’s Heathrow perishables facility processes around 120,000 tonnes of fresh produce including fruit, vegetables, prepared foods and dairy products - the organisation needs to be a well-oiled machine.
Although the fresh produce airfreight market is buoyant as demand continues, prices are affected by rising fuel costs. This has a direct impact on the rate that a freight forwarder passes on and charges to a client. “That’s something that’s not going to stop as fuel becomes a more expensive commodity,” Barron admits. “I think, however, as long as the market is moving, there is still enough demand. Ultimately, if the supermarket wants fresh produce at a particular time, they understand that they need to pay for that service, and if fuel costs have increased, then they have to accept that they have to pay the price.”
Globally, many countries are experiencing a surge in shifting produce and are developing better and larger facilities to cope with the extra volume. Turkish Cargo saw increased cargo volumes, with the carrier transporting 31.6 tonnes of freight in January 2012, a 21.7 per cent year-on-year increase. To improve its services, Turkish Cargo has renovated its facilities at Turkey’s Antalya International Airport, installing a refrigerated unit to handle perishables such as vegetables and fruit.
Apollo Freight opened perishable facilities near Los Angeles International Airport in November 2011. The state-of-the-art 15,663 sqft facility (with temperature zones ranging from 45 degrees Fahrenheit to zero degrees) is part of a new 37,000 sqft warehouse facility that boosts Los Angeles’ refrigeration capacity to more than 82,000 sqft, a key component in the battle to take market share from Miami, which currently imports 69 per cent of perishable goods coming into the US.
“From Mexican onions bound for London to California, produce like tomatoes and strawberries headed for Hawaii - we handle it all, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” says Ivo Skorin, Apollo Freight’s chief operating officer. The new facility, on average, will handle 100 tonnes of produce daily with an estimated market value of $90 million (£60 million) annually.
Perishable products coming to Apollo Freight’s new facility are transferred directly from refrigerated trucks into a climate-controlled setting without breaking the cold chain, making it more advantageous for importers to ship directly to Los Angeles instead of shipping goods to Miami and having them sent to the West Coast via refrigerated truck.
“At any one time, we might have mangoes at 43 degrees, roses at 34 degrees and blueberries at 37 degrees,” Skorin explained. “Whatever the optimum temperature is, that’s what we use to store them.”
Blue Skies, which last week won the Re:fresh FPC Processor of the Year Award, has put a number of initiatives in place to overcome the many challenges facing the airfreight sector. These include developing products for local and dollar-based markets to reduce exposure to exchange rate losses and supply chain disruption, expanding its supply base to ensure year-round supply of fruit, expanding the Blue Skies Foundation and opening a Europe-based contingency factory to ensure consistency of supply during supply chain disruption.
Over the next five years the company plans to develop further local sales to represent 20 per cent of the group’s turnover, as well as recruiting new farmers to expand its supply base and producing more energy
from waste. -
No comments yet