The UK’s foodie boom, that explosion of interest driven by TV chefs over the past twenty years, has led to the country’s palate expanding like never before. Consumers not only pick up non-native food in passing, but actively seek it out, and the likes of pineapple, melons and New Zealand meat are increasingly seen as common place, taking up as much shelf space as British apples, pears and carrots.
Meeting demand, delivering value
The demand cycle means that customers have grown accustomed to non-native fresh food (and indeed even native food out of season) at any time of the year. This has led supermarkets and fresh food suppliers to search for ever new innovative ways of making sure they can deliver fresh food at all times of the year.
The challenge is being able to do so in a way that is cost-effective. Air travel would deliver food hours after it has been picked or slaughtered, but at a prohibitively high cost. Ocean travel delivers value driven by economies of scale, but at significantly long transit times – weeks rather than hours.
Food technology
The answer lies in technology. Non-perishable food stuffs, and indeed most other industries, have benefited from the shipping container – the twenty or forty foot long metal box that has revolutionised international trade since its introduction over fifty years ago. By refrigerating the box, and creating reefers, container shipping companies have been able to meet the needs of supermarkets and fresh food suppliers whilst at the same time meeting their own requirements for economies of scale.
Technology provides a solution to the challenge of having food fresh months after being picked on the other side of the world. Different types of reefer can manage temperatures to transport frozen tuna or ice cream, or control the atmosphere to guarantee a prolonged shelf life for the likes of avocadoes or asparagus.
It can even help reduce CO2 emissions, with software that cools commodities rapidly without increasing environmental impact.
Delivering a complete service
What it can’t solve is the external factors that can impact ocean going freight – port congestions, bad weather and the like can delay containers and mean that a shipment of bananas has lost a week’s shelf-life in transit, a supermarket is low on stock and a supplier has lost money.
That’s where a carrier’s reliability, commitment to customers and network of services comes into play. By being able to offer innovative technology, alongside reliable services with competitive transit times, carriers can cater for the needs of supermarkets and fresh food suppliers. This in turn means that UK consumers can enjoy Argentinian beef, Chilean cherries, Indian grapes and New Zealand apples whenever they want.
To find out more about reefer technology and how it can support your business, visit www.maersklinereefer.com.
