Setting the Standard for Perishables

The air cargo community should drive its own standard for perishables, without waiting for other groups and agencies to establish them, according to Stavros Evangelakakis, global product manager, healthcare and perishables, for Cargolux and chairman of the Cool Chain Association (CCA).

A lack of accountability is contributing to the 1.3 billion metric tons of food being wasted along the supply chain every year, equating to one-third of all food produced, attendees heard at the CCA’s recent conference in Luxembourg.

Collaboration, transparency, and data sharing—as well as training for perishables growers and better facilities—are needed to inject quality into a fragmented and disconnected supply chain, speakers explained at the two-day event.

“We should aim for quality; we should not wait for other agencies to come up with standards,” Evangelakakis said. “We should look internally and act now.”

The information needed for supply chain improvement is already there, said keynote speaker Philippe Schuler, a food waste prevention consultant and CCA researcher.

“The information needs to be made accessible,” said Schuler. “When we all start to have access to the data, we can start to solve the problems.”

The industry is stuck in a multi-stakeholder model, with no shared communication, according to the speakers.

“Instead of pointing at each other, we should collaborate,” said Frank Van Gelder, founder of Mediconed Consultancy. “There is a way out, and it is not that far away. Let’s make quality visible through data.”