Perishable concerns and the opportunities they bring were aired at the Air Shippers Forum at the 4th Air Cargo Africa 2017 event in Johannesburg, South Africa on Tuesday, 21 February.
The forum was attended by over 90 delegates from the shippers and forwarders community where the focus was on flowers, fruits and vegetables – key export commodities from the African continent.
Hosted by Saudia Cargo panelists included Panalpina Airflow Kenya country manager, Conrad Archer, Kenya Flower Council CEO, Jane Ngige, Qatar Airways Cargo senior manager for products, David Beecham and it was moderated by Saudia Cargo vice president of operations, Joseph Notter.
The panel also discussed how perishable shippers require logistics partners that can ensure access to capacity, cool facilities in as many steps of transport as feasible and affordable, and the ability to move goods swiftly and on time, while another growing demand is for end-to-end service.
This session put shippers at the heart of the discussion and they voiced their views related to perishables transportation. The forum also discussed how the airfreight community and the different stakeholders understand how they can improve the perishables supply chain thus assuring shippers the integrity of their shipments.