With the amount of fresh produce arriving in the UK each day from different parts of the world, seaborne transport is arguably one of the most important methods of bringing fruit and vegetables to our shores. The sheer weight of produce demands that it is mainly transported by sea.
Shipping plays a particularly valuable role when importing from far-flung nations in the southern hemisphere, but the emphasis on increasing short-sea routes within Europe also seems to be gaining momentum.
Geoff Smith, managing director at MacAndrews, international shipping and husbandry agents, explains that the company’s core focus for fresh produce is currently on Spain and Portugal, where it has been piloting a project for the last 18 months. The aim of the trials is to show retailers that short-sea transportation of fresh produce is a viable option and convince category managers to take a leap of faith and transfer a proportion of their movements to its short-sea route, rather than rely totally on reefer-truck transportation.
“Every year there are more than 60,000 reefer truck movements from Spain to UK, carrying a whole cross-section of produce. We have been trialling fresh produce shipments since last November using 45ft reefer containers, which carry the same number of pallets as reefer trucks, and also 40ft reefers,” he says.
MacAndrews’s operations are undertaken using reefer trailer loading at the packing house or chill-store in southern Spain and are then transported overland to Bilbao where it cross-docks the consignment in a cold-store in the port into the reefer container. The last stage sees the container shipped to a final destination in the UK, or in Ireland, using short-sea vessels, achieving a total transit time of around 4-and-a-half days or less. Smith is hopeful that the new approach will have an overall impact on importing fruit and vegetables in Europe: “We believe that our solution for Spain and Portugal is cost competitive with reefer-trucks, and beneficial, because it overcomes issues concerning road congestion and the environment. This will certainly change the manner in which fresh produce is sourced from Iberia and the transportation mode for how it reaches the customer in the UK,” he says.
It is a timely strategy for the evolution of short-sea shipping, and the environmental benefits gleaned from reducing the amount of traffic is undoubtedly a huge incentive, but it is also economically beneficial.
Recent factors, such as the newly introduced Working Time Directive, legislation introduced to improve employment conditions, including setting a maximum 48-hour working week, is reportedly increasing the cost of transporting goods by road, which could offer a window for a cheaper alternative.
Michael Orpin, produce manager at international freight management and logistics company, Geologistics, also points out that a reduction in the number of vehicles deployed, as ships take over from trucks, equals savings: “It would make sense because you could have 1,000 trucks carrying 1,000 containers or you could use just one ferry and there is a general move to reduce the number of vehicles because obviously it’s cheaper,” he says.
And this move is illustrated by MacAndrews’ introduction of its largest vessel yet - Velazquez. With a capacity of 822 teu (twenty-foot equivalent unit) and 150 reefer plugs, the ship can reach speeds of 18.5 knots.
Stena Line Freight, it seems, are also following this trend with the recent expansion of its North Sea business. The largest pan-European freight ferry network in Europe, Stena Line, has invested €400m on its ferries and routes in the last 12 months, and is now planning to introduce two new ferries to its Hoek of Holland-Killingholme route. With fresh produce freight making up 40 per cent of the route’s overall haulage, Frank Nieuwenhuys, Stena Line’s freight commercial manager for the UK and Ireland, says the new vessels will enable it to give its customers a quicker, more efficient service, and will give the route an 80 per cent increase in loading capacity overall.
He says the flourishing market between Holland and the UK is leading to customers demanding more capacity. He explains that using Killingholme to Cambridge means avoiding the congestion of the south east and reduces mileage: “Not only will this add new capacity but also the service times will be dramatically reduced. It will help those involved in the transport of fresh produce as well as other sectors as it opens up the possibility of using this convenient northern route. Before this, detours involving long additional mileage, like via the Channel, were the only option. So reduced crossing time on the one hand and combining this with less mileage on the other will in turn lead to greater overall efficiency and a better service to customers,” he says.
Nieuwenhuys argues that in terms of cost and ensuring product quality, exporters also have to be flexible: “Efficiency, as ever, will come from a combination of factors including the deployment of appropriate vessels for a specified route. But the biggest efficiencies will come from intelligent logistics; the use of the right route and service combination that saves time and mileage and better meets the customer needs in terms of frequency, timeliness and convenience,” he says.
As every business transporting fresh produce or any perishable product will testify, shorter transit times are key in the upkeep of a products quality, but also important is the way the produce is stacked, stored and handled.
The popularity of reefer containers is illustrative of the sector’s move toward more efficient transportation methods, and, it seems, it is the traditional break-bulk method of packing that is feeling the impact.
Erik Dunkelmann, head of marketing for CargoFresh’s development and manufacture of CA-equipment for reefer trailers and containers, witnessed the growth of containerised reefers first-hand: “The reefer container industry has been growing in double digit figures for years now and there’s no end to that in sight yet,” he says. “To a reasonably large degree, reefer containers are replacing bulk reefer space for more flexibility on liner services and reefer parameters,” he says.
Both methods of transport carry fresh produce in a temperature-controlled atmosphere. Reefer containers are approximately 40ft cold-store units, which are lifted on and off a vessel and plugged in throughout the journey before being taken to a special hold to accommodate them where they can be powered. The older, break-bulk method is simply a temperature-controlled hold on board a vessel, where palletised fresh produce is lifted in to a hold and kept cool throughout transport. Each technique has its pros and cons as Orpin explains: “Most fresh produce goods used to come over in break-bulk shipments but it is changing now. Using containers means that when it arrives in the UK, you are probably going to have to wait two or three days before it becomes available, where as with break-bulk, the freight would be available that day, or at least the day after, but some growers and exporters prefer containers as, once the goods are loaded, they are not then handled until it reaches the final destination,” he says. “Break-bulk is handled on more occasions and has a potential higher risk of damage, albeit a small risk. But some people think that this is outweighed with a speedier availability and better accessibility of goods.”
But some exporters, it seems, are striving for even more efficient technology. Using a specially controlled atmosphere when transporting certain fruits and vegetables can help ensure they are in optimum condition when they reach supermarket shelves, and this technology is also growing in popularity among shipping lines, says Dunkelmann: “The development seems to be that eventually all reefer containers will also be equipped with the integrated technology of controlled atmosphere,” he says.
Simply put - the special atmosphere is created using a nitrogen-rich gas stream, which has passed through a humidifying membrane before it is directed into the cargo hold of the container. Produce within the containers has a three-day wake up phase after which the fruit enters into a natural ripening cycle.
Dunkelmann explains that the system is ideal for delicate exotic fruits and organic produce. The process reduces the metabolism of the fresh produce, helping the produce to stay fresher, and Dunkelmann says that his customer base is growing: “Retail chains are realising that higher sales of more mature fruit can be achieved with the help of CA-containers. Consumers also become more and more fastidious when it comes to regular consumption of tropical fruit. Why accept a flavourless mango for example when this can be obtained from overseas in CA-containers at very little extra cost?” he asks.
“[Retailers] are still reporting heavy losses of up to 40 per cent due to poor shipping facilities. Others find reducing numbers in turnover of delicate tropical fruits due to lack of flavour as they are harvested too early. All this can be changed with the use of CA-containers,” he says.
He explains that since its advent the Cargofresh CA system is helping to change the entire nature of ocean-freight, with new plantations in countries of produce that previously could only be transported short distances due to product quality. It is also having a hand in the expansion of short-sea freight in Europe: “Some regions are presently establishing new and reliable transport modes with ocean-going CA-containers, for example, from Iberia to United Kingdom, which used to be handled by trucks, which had to use ferries or accept the longer haul through the tunnel,” he says.
It seems that while the evolution of shipping fresh produce is only gradual, the changes are positive. New technology is clearly affording the sector a greater market share as seaborne transport increases in popularity. Add to that the bonus of reducing the negative impact on the environment as vessels become larger, fewer in number and, in Europe, take over the traditional reefer truck routes, and it is hard to see a flaw. Ultimately the changes point to more efficient transport, better returns to growers, and better quality produce for everyone.
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