Global food demand is expected to grow by 50% by 2050, and with it, cold chain needs, according to the Cold Chain Federation. Currently, in India for example less than 4% of fresh produce is transported under low temperature conditions, in the UK it’s more than 90%. But a global net zero cold chain won’t happen organically, a proper assessment of global cold chain needs from now to 2050 is vital, to allow modelling of what the cold chain will look like and development of global strategies for making development sustainable.
This article was first published in the November 15th 2020 issue of Warehouse & Logistics News, subscribe to the magazine by clicking here.
BID Group has announced plans to extend its network of depots to service the South West of the UK, an expansion on its existing presence in the North West, North East, Midlands, and South. Lowland Doors, based in Wishaw near Glasgow which BID Group purchased in 2012, Is to be rebranded BID Scotland and moved to larger premises in nearby Bellshill. The company’s head office based in Westhoughton, Bolton and in-house specialist teams, will work alongside the team in the South West to offer installation, service, maintenance, and repair solutions for a wide range of industrial doors, dock levellers, rapid roll doors, gates, barriers, personnel and automatic doors.
Thermo King and Envirotainer have announced they are ready for secure temperature controlled air transportation of a Covid-19 vaccine. Thermo King, a brand of Trane Technologies is the global provider of end-to-end active temperature-controlled transport and storage solutions, across the entire cold chain. Envirotainer is the global market leader in active cold chain solutions for air transport of pharmaceuticals.
When storing and transporting fresh and frozen foods, it is essential that an uninterrupted cold chain is in place. However, low ambient temperatures like those prevalent in refrigerated environments, also pose huge challenges for drive batteries and the operators of electric forklift trucks. In order to tackle this, Fronius Perfect Charging has developed a cold logistics option for its Selectiva battery charging system, which ensures that both the battery and the forklift truck work optimally even in very low temperatures.
Analysis of specialist insurer TT Club’s claims records for transport operators over the past three years shows temperature-controlled incidents ranking in third place. Almost 30% of these incidents involved a miscommunication of operational instructions on care of the cargo with a further 23% down to temperature setting errors. TT continues to minimise losses for its members and all those involved in the cool supply chain with publicly available guidance documents such as StopLoss – Temperature Controlled Cargo, and increasingly via online webinars.
There is a huge demand for warehouse space in the UK, including cold storage. There is a great deal of new cold storage space currently under construction or fit out (16.7million square foot). It’s critical that new facilities, which will be serving the UK cold storage need for the decades to come, are at the forefront of energy efficiency. Environmental aspects are increasingly a factor in warehouse space purchasing decisions, due to government legislation, rising energy costs and investor influence.
George Simpson
Features Editor
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