Panalpina now licensed to handle organic fruit and veg at LUX

Americas Cool Chain Forwarders and Shippers

August 23, 2017

Panalpina’s hub at Luxembourg Airport (LUX) has been officially licensed by Certysis to handle organic fruits and vegetables.

This makes Panalpina the first and only licensed receiver of organic produce at LUX, one of Europe’s busiest airports by cargo tonnage.

Panalpina says this shows the company’s commitment to developing the Panalpina Perishables Network not just through volume growth, but also by investing in quality processes and value-added services that directly benefit customers.

The freight forwarder says it now has three Certysis-licensed airport locations in Europe – London Heathrow Airport as well as Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and now LUX – both directly connected to the tarmac and thus ensuring the shortest possible route between aircraft and transit storage.

Panalpina’s regional head of Perishables Europe, Quint Wilken explains: “To be able to sell organic fruits or vegetables in the supermarket, every part of the supply chain, from grower to final distributor, needs to be certified by one of the controlling bodies. If the chain is broken, the product is not allowed to be called organic anymore.”

Panalpina uses Luxembourg as an important European import hub for organic avocados from Latin America. These are flown in directly from Mexico using Panalpina’s Boeing 747-8 Freighter, cleared and then trucked to their final destination in Europe.

James Graham

James Graham is an award-winning transport media journalist with a long background in the commercial freight sector, including commercial aviation and the aviation supply chain. He was the initial Air Cargo Week journalist and retuned later for a stint as editor. He continues his association as editor of the monthly supplements. He has reported for the newspaper from global locations as well as the UK.