Cold chain development and challenges in DCs
Elhadi M. Yahia
Abstracts Book, 6th International Postharvest symposium, 8-12 April 2009, Antalya, Turkey. 256 pages.
2009
บทคัดย่อ
The cold chain is a requirement for a successful postharvest industry in any country. Major developments have been observed in the last decade in the cold chain industry in the world, including in some DCs. Global cold chain capacity increased in the last decade. In DCs it more than doubled in India, increased 66% in Brazil, and 20% in China, but still very little or even non existing in some DCs. The increasing capacity is driven by greater reliance on the cold chain to meet growing trade and consumption of better quality perishable foods, needs to meet international standards of quality and food safety, retail boom growing middle class. Cold chain in DCs still needs major improvements, with many major challenges. Building and/or owning cold chain facilities is very expensive for most of the businesses in DCs, and there is not enough support from companies that specialize in renting cold chain spaces and instruments. Because of that, most companies that feel the need for cold chain find themselves in the need of constructing and or buying, with very little opportunities for renting the service. Erratic power supp in many DCs, especially in countries with warm climate or during the warm season is a serious problem. In some DCs the cold chain industry is characterized by poor return on investment compared to other businesses. In addition to the lack of adequate cold chain application and cold chain infrastructure in many DCs, the overall knowledge of proper cold chain practices is very weak in most DCs, and the number of adequate and properly trained technicians is very limited, especially among companies.