Cold Link Africa July / August 2022 | Page 33

A saying goes … “ If you want to fly with the eagles , stop swimming with the ducks ”.
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
CONTRIBUTORS

Fly like an eagle …

Photo by Frank Cone | Pexels

Last season was essentially a disaster for a lot of our farms . And everybody was , and is still blaming the logistics of things . The harbors in particular took the brunt and yes , there are huge problems :

• having no slots and / or power to let the containers work
• delays
• wrong cranes ( the systems bought are not correct for our wind conditions )
• letting people go on leave in peak times
• union driven general bad work ethics
• non-motivated staff
• violence
• corruption , and
• slow work rates
These are all factors that are actually – for our industry or any other industry for that
By Jan Lievens

A saying goes … “ If you want to fly with the eagles , stop swimming with the ducks ”.

matter – really unacceptable . But further , this has been coming for a long time and needs to be addressed , not yesterday , today , or tomorrow , but donkey years ago !
Yes , it is simply unacceptable and deplorable . And to be honest , some people deserve a huge kick in certain places where it hurts . More than once as well . But let us be honest and brutally critical , is that really the only issue at stake here ? Nope . And that is something that you and the industry leaders should know already . You ’ d better start having a deep look into your overall operations . Before and after harvest .
Two years ago , I wrote an article : “ Houston we ’ ve got a problem …”, just before the Corona crisis hit us .
Maybe you should read that article again . You deliver a perfect fruit at the point of harvest , and for that you must call in the right independent experts to get that right . There are postharvest problems that are created in the orchard as well …
Once you have grown that perfect product , the last trajectory starts - delivering that perfect product to your end consumer . But that hinges on the quality of your fruit - and let us face it , that you have got more or less absolutely right , if you do everything right of course up until then .
However , it is not just about quality , getting your top-quality fruit in the right condition to the “ other side ” is as important and is becoming a real challenge as professionals have now confirmed that the “ transit time ” from vine to mouth from South Africa is
All images supplied / creative commons exceeding well over 60 days ! In some cases , one of my contacts was indicating we are getting closer to 75 days … and this is where you will have to do the right things first time , every time .
A recent postharvest audit in the Orange River on a well-known table grape farm proved once again that there are still several issues that are left unattended and that , to say the least , contributes a hell of a lot to the problems . All at farm level , before your produce gets loaded in the container that is . PLEASE , do not start yet another study to investigate this . There are plenty of those done , worldwide , for nearly fifty years in all corners of the world . I must stress that we do not waste time on trying to prove the same issues over and over again ! You do not have the luxury to do this .
We have said it before and will keep on repeating it : “ Nature never breaks her own laws …”
Again , the abovementioned phrase is not from us but from Leonardo da Vinci , who at the time did a lot of things but using applied postharvest technologies was not one of them .
However , what he said is true and especially applies here .
Jan Lievens , born in Belgium , is a graduate civil engineering ( B ) and international senior consultant for engineered applied postharvest technology at Humiditas South Africa . With over 20 years of experience in this field , he is widely regarded as a specialist in the fruit- , vegetable- and flower industry with regards to humidity , airborne bacteria and ethylene removal , both locally and internationally . Furthermore , he also designed airflow-friendly packaging systems for the industry with proven results .
With regards to preserving the condition of your fruit , I really think the industry must stop trying to transport water from point A to B with a perforated bucket . Start using a proper bucket . Only this way will you be able to do what you should do for all involved . We have been writing a good couple of articles on our specialty : applied postharvest technologies .
PLEASE , do not start yet another study to investigate this . There are plenty
of those done , worldwide , for nearly fifty years in all corners of the world .
The effects of poor post-harvest practices generally only become evident down the line towards the end of the logistics process .

COLD LINK AFRICA • July / August 2022 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za 33