Cold Link Africa January/February 2021 | Seite 19

ASSOCIATIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
to guarantee the quality of this cold
challenge is unprecedented , but the
air transport and for land transport in
requirements , must be made available as
chain . Since its creation in 1908 , the IIR
battle is not lost !
combination with refrigerated trucks .
soon as possible .
has been actively involved in this , and
For below −20 ° C products , existing and
There are already cabinets for storage
The IIR and its hundreds of experts
has been a partner of the United Nations
widely used solutions for frozen products
at −80 ° C , especially in hospitals and
around the world are at the forefront
since 1970 for the implementation of the
can quickly be duplicated or adapted
laboratories . Finally , the readjustment of
of these issues and will provide their
agreement on the transport of perishable
to the vaccine cold chain . They are
the temperature of these products prior
scientific and technical expertise on the
foodstuffs , known as the ATP agreement ,
well-known , controlled , available and , in
to injection should not be neglected : it is
cold chain for health products to the
but also of the World Health Organisation
some cases , already certified .
not innocuous to go from −80 ° C to + 20 ° C .
public and private players involved in
( WHO ), which is deploying its quality and
For below −80 ° C products , the
And launching a massive vaccination
these operations : governments , health
safety programme ( PQS ) for the vaccine
situation is more complex , but not
campaign with products below −80 ° C
agencies , hospitals , pharmaceutical
cold chain .
hopeless . Although there is currently
requires determining these means ,
laboratories and , more broadly , health
The IIR has also supported the
no significant storage and transport
deploying them on a large scale and
and logistics professionals . All these
International Healthcare ColDays of the
capacity for thermosensitive products
training the users of this equipment !
experts are already at work to provide
French Association of Refrigeration ( AFF )
since 2008 and has co-published the best
practice guide on the cold chain for
below −80 ° C , technical solutions do exist . As regards storage , the air-source open-cycle refrigeration machines used
Conclusions
The temperature-controlled logistics of
concrete answers and face the
challenge of the global massive Covid-19
vaccination .
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health products .
for refrigeration in tuna warehouses at
the global massive vaccination against
What prospects for the temperature-controlled logistics of the Covid-19 vaccine ?
While the cold chain for health products
– and more particularly vaccines –
can efficiently deliver vaccines in the
conventional ranges almost anywhere in
the world , this is not necessarily the case
for large-scale vaccination campaigns
−60 ° C , for example , can also be used at −80 ° C .
They can also be used for cold distribution chambers . For transport , nitrogen cryogenic transport units used at −20 ° C can also be used at −80 ° C with reinforced insulation boxes . If we are talking about temperatures close to −80 ° C , as is often the case with health products , then dry ice plays an important
Covid-19 is a real challenge , as much
for its unprecedented importance as for
its technical specificity , as announced
by several laboratories . Whether at
temperatures below −20 ° C or −80 ° C , for
all or part of the chain , new methods will
have to be put in place along with costs
significantly higher than the typically
implemention for vaccine logistics .
This is a matter for experts and
For below −80 ° C products , the situation is more complex , but not hopeless .
with products to be stored below
role in transport , especially in insulated
specialists . The most precise information ,
−20 ° C , and even less so at −80 ° C . The
packaging and containers both for
particularly concerning temperature

SATI releases first crop estimate for 20 / 21

By the South African Table Grape Industry ( SATI )

The South African Table Grape Industry ( SATI ) released the First Crop Estimate for the 2020 / 2021 season with intake volumes estimated to be between 65.0 million and 69.8 million cartons ( 4.5kg equivalent ).

This signals an expected return to normal industry volumes and reflects a marginal growth in hectares planted over the last six years . The earliest Northern Provinces Region is expected to start a week later than normal , i . e . in week 45 , while indications are that the Orange River is likely to start about five days later due to cooler spring weather . It is still too early to predict exactly when the remaining three South African production regions based in the Western Cape province will start harvesting . According to SATI Chairman Fanie Naudé , the focus will be on providing quality table grapes from South Africa
that are an essential part of healthy diets with producers ready to meet the increasing worldwide demand for healthy fruit , especially during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic .
The basis of the crop estimate is supported by the latest vine census , which reflects the SA table grape industry ’ s response to market preferences through the investment in new varieties that gave rise to the accelerated replacement of older generation varieties with new generation varieties .
A larger percentage of young vines across most of the production regions is currently not bearing or not in full production yet . Crop estimates are done in co-operation with growers and industry experts representing all production regions . SATI will use this structure to be more responsive to inseason developments and deviations . The estimate , in the table below , was reached by considering the best available information , experience and observations , the latest industry vine census and historical data .
Expectations for the first half of the SA season up to around week four is that volumes are not expected to be higher than in previous years . This is due
SATI
Table 1 : First Crop Estimate for 2020 / 2021 season ( million 4.5kg equivalent cartons )
to the extended colder conditions in
few critical factors with the weather
the Orange River region with a resultant
conditions just before and during
slightly later start that is expected .
harvest the most important .
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A return to a normal crop is expected
for the three Western Cape based
regions , especially in the late Hex River
region where unseasonal rain during the
last season caused substantial losses . It
has to be noted that about 60 % of the
total crop comes from the mid-to-late
Berg and Hex River regions with further
updates from this region to be expected
in a second crop estimate towards the
end of the year .
The Olifants River Region received
plenty of winter rains with a full recovery
expected for this region . The realisation
of this crop estimate depends on a

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