Maintaining cold chain integrity : temperature breaks within fruit reefer containers in the Cape Town Container Terminal
Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of South Africa
Abstract
South Africa is among the top 10 fruit-exporting countries in the world.
The South African fruit industry has identifi ed temperature breaks along
the fruit export cold chain that result in the deterioration of fruit quality,
loss of market credibility, and fi nancial losses. Seventy percent (70%)
of South African fruit exports are shipped through the Cape Town
Container Terminal (CTCT). This in-depth case study provides a better
understanding of the signifi cant challenges within the CTCT. This research
revealed that 81% of the temperature breaks in fruit reefer containers
carrying summer fruit originate within the CTCT. The average time for a
reefer container to be plugged in from when it enters the port is 1 hour
and 52 minutes; almost three times higher than the 40-minute goal
time. Only one-fi fth of containers experienced no temperature breaks,
while almost a quarter never cooled down to the target temperature.
Operational issues that need to be addressed have been identifi ed, such
as the increased use of gensets, improved scheduling for arrival at the
CTCT, and training of port personnel as to the correct standards for
cold chain management. There is, however, also a need for improved
collaboration between the producers, fruit exporters, logistics service
providers, the CTCT, and shipping lines to enable end-to-end integrity of
the cold chain. The latter will be the subject of future research.
Description
CITATION: Goedhals-Gerber, L. L., Stander, C. & Van Dyk, F. E. 2017. Maintaining cold chain integrity : temperature breaks within fruit reefer containers in the Cape Town Container Terminal. Southern African Business Review, 21:362-384.
The original publication is available at http://www.unisa.ac.za
The original publication is available at http://www.unisa.ac.za
Keywords
Fruit exports -- Cape town (South Africa), Fruit trade -- Cape town (South Africa), Exports -- Cape town (South Africa), Cold storage industry -- Cape town (South Africa) -- Effectiveness, Transnet port terminal -- Cape town (South Africa), Container terminals -- Cape Town (South Africa) -- Effectiveness, Business logistics -- Cape Town (South Africa)
Citation
Goedhals-Gerber, L. L., Stander, C. & Van Dyk, F. E. 2017. Maintaining cold chain integrity : temperature breaks within fruit reefer containers in the Cape Town Container Terminal. Southern African Business Review, 21:362-384