horticulture supply chain workshop - afccc · • pallets stacked too high blocking airflow to rear...

Horticulture supply

chain workshopPresented by

Mark Mitchell

Brisbane 5th September 2019

Introduction

This presentation will provide an overview of the current state of food cold chain in

Australia, and an introduction to some of the guiding principles and requirements

necessary for its improvement.

The content and conclusions are presented from the results of the work we are doing

at my own SuperCool, and from the policies and objectives currently

Under focus by the Australian Food Cold Chain Council (AFCCC).

Introduction

Compliance to worlds best practices is now on the

Australian agenda due to the global food loss and

wastage (FLW) crisis and its triple bottom line.

Commercial, consumer, logistics and contractual

arrangements should no longer ignore food safety

and the opportunity for FLW reduction.

New technology and systems are always at the

forefront of the refrigeration industry and the cold

chain, however proper implementation of existing first level technology is required.

When food is stored and transported

at its correct temperature,

losses are reduced and shelf life is honored

The process - simplified

Cold chain type – end to end

Multiple ownership of temperature makes temperature abuse more common, and

avoidance of responsibility easier

Cold chain type – closed loop

Single ownership of temperature, clear responsibility

Cold chain transport and storage is a chain of events separated

into Control Points (CP) and Critical Control Points (CCP)

The process - simplified

A compliant cold chain proves its product temperature between all stakeholders

The process - simplified

Compliant temperatures require collaboration between key stakeholders

REFRIGERATION SYSTEMCONTAINER &

VEHICLE BODY BUILDERPROCESS

The process - simplified

Storage

at DC

Load

IMC

Road

Journey

rail point

IMC

transfer

to rail

wagon

Rail

journey

IMC

transfer

road

Road

journey Unload

IMC

Storage

at DC

Long haul example

Road and rail cold chain

Storage

at DC

Load

IMC Road

Journey

IMC

transfer

to rail

Rail

journey

IMC

transfer

to road

Road

journeyUnload

IMCStorage

at DC

Monitoring and data points

StorageLoad

IMC

Temperature,

packaging

and packing

Time

temperature

to IMC at

dock

Time

temperature,

stacking in

IMC at dock

Time

temperature

at journey

start

Time

temperature

on loading

dock

Time

temperature

to loading

dock

The critical control points are CRITICAL

Unload IMCStorage

Temperature

at journey

end

Time

temperatur

e in IMC at

dock

Time

temperature

unloading to

dock

Time

temperature

on loading

dock

Time

temperatur

e to storage

Temperatur

e in storage

The critical control points are CRITICAL

When things go wrong

Responsibility is unclear

Boxes touch

the wall

Entire pallet

touches the wall

Different problems,

same result

Boxes touch

the wall

Entire pallet

touches the wall

Pallets are

too close

2

9

When things go wrong

Responsibility is unclear

Equipment is important

HACCP compliant

process in place

Record of journey

and events

Alerts issued when

exception occurs

Monitored

temperatures

Monitored door openings

Locked and secure

Correct temperature

Refrigerated to ISO

standards

• When a temperature rule is broken during a journey or upon arrival at a destination, the

common practice in a non-compliant cold chain is to finger point to someone else to take

responsibility, or to not disclose the rule has been broken.

• Any activity with shared responsibility between stakeholders, by nature attracts the typical

‘its not me’ mentality.

• Therefore stakeholders must commit to implementing cold chain decision making based

on facts and data.

• A prime example of this is when airflow causing lack of refrigerating effect on a product is

deemed to be the cause of an event.

When things go wrong

Finger pointing starts

Example finger point | Airflow

Product

arrives out of

temperature

Product

temp at

departure

Ok. DC not

responsible

Product

temperature

during journey

not available

Air temp in

fridge Ok.

Transporter

not

responsible

Transporter

blames

loading

point temp

QC blame

refrigeration

system,

insufficient

capacity

QC at

destination

determine

issue is at

rear of IMC

Arrival point

blames

loading point

after review of

fridge temp

Transporter

shows fridge

system service

certificate, all

Ok

QC engage

refrigeration

manufacturer

who confirms

airflow

Photos show

stock moved

and high in

places

Loading

point

blames

transporter

Transporter

says not

responsible for

stock moving

Loading point

blames

transporter for

stock moving

Packaging

company not

responsible,

blames

refrigeration

Product

owner

considers

blame on all

parties

Finger

pointing

continues…

Example finger point | Airflow

The facts

• Good flow produces heat

convection

• It is crucial for maintaining

product temperature in

transport

• Moving air is forced

convection

• Still air is free convection

• Sufficient forced air convection

occurs in IMC and trailer

applications velocities > 0.5 m/s

• Inadequate forced air and free

air convection can occur at the

rear of an IMC/Trailer, or at

velocities of 0.0 to 0.1 m/s

Example finger point | Airflow

The facts

• Packaging, packing, stacking and wrapping play

a role in product temperature compliance

• They are four different things

• Either can block airflow sufficiently to negate

convection and introduce conduction

• Can eliminate the efficiency of good refrigeration

Example finger point | Airflow

The facts

The reality of responsibility in this typical example is the opposite to current behaviour and thinking.

Loading point - is a primary responsible party due to;

• Inability to prove product temperature from the loading dock to the IMC

• Pallets stacked too high blocking airflow to rear of IMC

• Lack of co-operation with transporter to validate fit for purpose packing and wrapping for the journey

• Insufficient load restraints installed for journey (plywood not good enough)

Transporter - is a primary responsible party due to;

• Inability to prove product temperature from the loading dock to the IMC

• Pallets stacked too high blocking airflow to rear of IMC

• Lack of co-operation with loading point to validate fit for purpose packing and wrapping for the journey

• Inability to prove product temperature during journey, and absence of adequate air temperature monitoring

• No thermal certification of equipment

• Insufficient load restraints installed prior to journey (plywood not good enough)

Refrigeration system installer - is a secondary responsible party due to;

• Lack of advice regarding use of air ducts and secondary evaporators at the point of installation to make the IMC more fit for purpose.

IMC manufacturer - is a secondary responsible party due to;

• Making incorrect fit for purpose claims

• Providing no ISO/ATP/AHRI/ASNZ thermal certifications for the IMC

Example finger point | Airflow

The facts

Capacity - is the unit or system large

enough or sufficient in achieving heat

removal to meet the heat load requirement

Performance – is the unit working properly

according to the manufacturers

specifications without faults or modifications

Efficiency – is the unit in combination with

other equipment in the application

sufficient to achieve the correct

temperature result.

Equipment CPE factor

Euroscan hardware

Product temperature monitoring must be continuous…..

end point only not good enough.

Automatic systems are best

Journey temperature mapping is second best to probing.

Must be continuous and automatic.

Smart product probe technology is here

Cold Chain View – main page

Customer

Cold Chain View – main pageCustomer

Cold Chain View – data report

The pudding is in theproof

ColdFoodCode

will provide guidance to

different sectors of cold

chain industry and

stakeholders

The planet currently produces

food for 10 billion people.

The world population is seven

billion, yet the food gets to only

six billion people.

COST OF FOODLOSS AND WASTE

$2.6 TRILLION

In both hunger and climate impact,

food loss and waste is the world’s third

largest country

If food waste was a countryGreenhouse Gas Emissions

In the APEC Nations 74% of food is lost

during production and consumptionThe top four commodity by stage

This presentation will focus on the FSC

prior to the consumption stage to

observe the food losses condition of

production and marketing systems.

• In the top four food losses commodity group, the

loss percentage prior to consumption stage is

respectively as 36.16% (production), 16.45%

(handling & storage), 29.20% (processing &

packaging) and 28.37% (distribution)

• In the Fruits and Vegetables group, the loss

percentage is higher in the stage of production

and process & packaging

• In the Fish & Seafood and Meat group, the loss

percentage is higher in the stage of distribution

Just 1.3% of the water on the planet is

fresh water that can be accessed,

and 70% of that is used for agriculture

The connection between food waste,

climate change and hunger is missingFood waste has a devastating impact on the environment.

The water used to grow just the food we discard is greater than the water used by

any single nation in the world.

The embodied carbon dioxide CO2 emissions in food waste alone represent 3.3

billion metric tons. That’s all the energy that goes to produce the food we never eat

– the fuel, the electricity, processing, packaging, transport…..

20.4LITRES OF

WATERSingle head of broccoli

Hunger and under-nutrition reduce the

global GDP by up to 3 per cent, or some $2 trillion annually

A report prepared by the International Food Policy

Research Institute shows that for every dollar that

any government around the globe invests in nutrition

to reduce hunger and stunting, it sees an average

return of 16 times, and in some countries much

higher.

If food loss and waste can be reduced and the

leaking of nutritious calories out of the food supply

chain can be stopped, the entire economies of

countries around the world can be raised.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch study

Refrigeration is the key

It is a lot cheaper and efficient to devote resources to maintaining

the condition, quality and wholesomeness of product that is

already harvested, rather than try to compensate for post harvest

losses by producing more and more.

Is there an environmental benefit in

developing cold chains in emerging economies?

A study was conducted to

establish the consequence of

developing cold chains in

emerging economies relationship

between and specifically the

balanced between:

Reduction of food losses, and associated

carbon footprint Additional emissions from

increased energy use,

refrigerants and greater

transport distances

Refrigeration is the key

Decrease of FLW

carbon footprint

from cold chain

expansion

outbalances

additional emissions

by a factor of 10.

FLW and cold chains

Current carbon footprint and effect of

the development of cold chains

Transport refrigeration

alone could avoid a

quarter of food waste in

developing countriesNothing keeps perishable products safe, maintains

their physical and nutritional qualities and prolongs

their shelf life like cold air.

Drive fresh fish or fresh green vegetables to market

in an open truck in the hot sun and they can be

ruined before they get there.

This makes the modern cold chain an indispensable

tool of global trade and increasingly a field of high

technology – marine container refrigeration, truck

and trailer refrigeration, warehouse and food retail

refrigeration and home refrigerators.

More than 50% of the food categories

wasted are the food types that can

be extended by the cold chain.

The challenge in this room

We can and must expand best practice refrigeration in world.

We can and must improve the efficiency of the food cold chain

This is an imperative to feeding people properly in both developed and

developing nations.

We must do it urgently with the lowest impact on our global environment.

Thanks for listening