Most consumers do not realise what processes
and handling the food on their plate has gone through before they actually
consume it. As food product quality deterioration and decay starts from the
moment of harvest (fruits & vegetables); slaughter (meat & poultry) and
catch (marine products) onwards, within 6 hours fresh food products need to
enter the so-called “cold chain”, in order to preserve the food in accordance
with health regulations to maintain the important properties of nutrients,
texture, flavour, appearance, and moisture. A cold chain is a
temperature-controlled supply chain, in accordance with an uninterrupted series
of storage and distribution activities, which maintain a producer given
temperature range specification.
Depending on the required preservation time, we
distinguish two methods of cold chain preservation: fresh (concerned with
maximum shelf life) and frozen (concerned with maximum expiration date). The
respective preservation time depends on the type of product. Fresh food
products have relatively short shelf life.
Fruits, vegetables and meat cold chains are executed through close
control of temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and ethylene. Not all
food products can be frozen for preservation, however, through high performance
IQF (Individual Quick Frozen) cryogenic freezers, that uses nitrogen (-195.8°C) and carbon dioxide (-150°C) as
coolants, a wide range of products is eligible.
Malaysia imports many of its agriculture and
food products. Transportation from farm to retail is executed by refrigerated sea
containers; air cargo containers or Styrofoam boxes; as well as reefer trucks.
As food producers put their priority investments in product development and
production, they outsource their logistics needs to logistics service
providers, as those companies can build the required economies of scale,
enabling them to execute cold chain services more cost-effective.
According to Raymond de Graaf, cold chain consultant,
Malaysia has two cold chain challenges. First, Malaysia has great variations in
temperature range in the cold chain, leading to sustained and cumulative
damages to perishable foods. This results in high wastage of more than 30% of
shipments. Second, the country is very much dependent on foreign labour for its
cold chain logistics. Therefore, in order to ensure safe and sustainable food
handling from farm to consumer, the establishment of automated temperature and atmosphere-controlled
facilities is of vital importance according to him. This enables cold chain
service providers in Malaysia to render comprehensive and customised product
services of handling, multi temperature and compatible controlled storage,
value added processing, customised order picking and reefer distribution of
food products in accordance with an uninterrupted cold chain provision. The
result is fully automation of all processes with minimum labour involvement. Conveyor
belts are used for vehicle unloading and loading of distribution trucks, as
well as for internal temperature controlled product transfer; automated configured
palletizing; ASRS (Automated Storage & Retrieval System) rapid crane based
multi temperature storage compartments, 12 to 17-pallet stacking positions high;
and automated order picking processes.
Unfortunately, Malaysia does not have such
automated facilities yet and for that reason is not able to provide cold chain
food logistics in accordance with the highest global quality, efficiency, and
cost-effective standards. With double-digit domestic annual growth in the cold
chain sector, it is timely to invest in automation by cold chain logistics
players in Malaysia!
For more information on how to develop professional cold chain infrastructure, please contact marco@lbbinternational.com.
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