Cold Chain

As food retailers are increasingly emerging as the paymasters of the coldchain, the quality of the latter needs to be rexamined. Individual responsibility for supply chain problems - and failure in some cases - is not always easy to determine.

If loaded at the wrong temperature in a truck, fresh produce will deteriorate quicker than necessary. If air-flow within a confined space, truck, warehouse or vessel is not set correctly or malfunctions in the course of transit, problems are bound to occur further down the coldchain. As a result a retailer will have to reject a whole pallet or if the problem was detected at a discharge port a whole container load may have to be written off.

Although apparently technology has sufficiently matured to recognise early signs of of supply chain failure still far too many consignments reach the retail shelf in an unacceptable condition. Ever tried bananas tasting of cardboard or pineapples that are so sour that you wonder whether minimum sugar content tests have ever been applied at the packhouse in the country of origin? Why is the quality of fresh produce in the UK generally remain far inferior to that of France, Spain and Germany? Why does fish and meat consumed in the UK have so little taste?

But even in countries such as Italy and Spain with a high percentage of fresh produce fish and meat consumption quality problems remain. The longer the current coldchain complacency continues to remain unchallenged, the harder retailers will have to breathe down the necks of those responsible for supply chain failure than necessary.

If air-flow within a confined space, truck, warehouse or vessel is not set correctly or malfunctions in the course of transit, problems are bound to occur further down the coldchain. As a result a retailer will have to reject a whole pallet or if the problem was detected earlier a whole container load may have to be written off.

The longer the current coldchain complacency continues to remain unchallenged, the harder retailers will have to breathe down the necks of those responsible for supply chain failure.

Alex von Stempel