Air, sea and land freight options will be on the agenda at Cool Logistics Africa, which will take place for the first time in Cape Town next week
Industry figures from the perishable logistics and transport will embark on South Africa’s second city next week to assess airfreight, seafreight and hinterland transport challenges in Africa.
Hellmann Perishable Logistics (HPL) and Safmarine will be among a host of key industry names attending the exhibition, with HPL chief executive officer Klaus Hradzira set to discuss the issues of airport capacity and airfreight limitations in Africa at the conference
“Landlocked countries are at a particular disadvantage, especially if cold storage facilities at airports are insufficient or can only be reached through massive traffic jams,” said Hradzira.
“A relatively high percentage of perishables such as fresh fruit, fresh meat or fish therefore never make it to the plane in time or are left behind because higher priority has to be shifted first.”
Safmarine global reefer sales manager Marc Rooms has also confirmed his slot at the live conference during which he will assess the potential of intra-regional perishable trades in Africa and discuss perishable supply chain improvements in West Africa.
Cool Logistics Resources director Alex von Stempel remarked, “Developing better hinterland transport using truck or a combination of truck and rail will be essential and require close cooperation with government and port authorities to guarantee better access to ports.
“Freight forwarders with detailed knowledge of local conditions, perishable product and global communication networks are well-placed to press for a co-ordinated approach to optimising the use of scarce and congested seaport and airport resources in Africa.”
Cool Logistics Africa 2012, which will run from April 24-26 at Cape Town’s Vineyard Hotel, will feature a two-day conference hosted by Fruit South Africa and a one-day post-conference operations and technology workshop.
The show will focus on issues and trends in the end-to-end logistics arena for chilled and frozen goods, including market outlook, shipper needs, maritime and air transport, landside logistics and cold-chain technology.
The launch of Cool Logistics Africa precedes the fourth version of the successful annual European conference Cool Logistics Global, which will take place this September in Antwerp, Belgium.
