INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
ASSOCIATIONS
FoodForward SA
1 chain partner , RCL Foods , donated over 200 tons of fresh and frozen food products . Etlin International donated more than 11 tons of frozen products and in the current financial year they have received a donation of 2.4 tons from the Oceana Group .
FoodForward SA helps companies to reduce food waste ( and the cost of having to dump or incinerate stock ) and save the environment . Furthermore , all their supply
Through innovative programmes and partnerships Food for All Africa has shown impressive growth since their formation , distributing 112 000Kg of food to over 260 000 vulnerable people in 2020 . The organisation has set an ambitious target to recover 300 000Kg of food in 2021 which will enable them to service 350 000 people .
GCCA member , FreezeLink , is West Africa ’ s leading cold chain logistics company . Companies operating in Ghana have long struggled with the absence of dependable , third-party , temperature-controlled transport and warehousing services . This challenge and the opportunity to stimulate sectors of the economy , in agricultural , consumer goods and pharmaceuticals , inspired the birth of FreezeLink .
Their experience in the supply chain , cost control , and engineering addresses this problem for many businesses that deliver food , drink , and medicine daily . Owusu Akoto , CEO of FreezeLink , has extensive experience working on a wide variety of strategy and supply chain projects in Ghana and overseas . Akota has worked for private companies and the UK Ministry of Justice before becoming CEO at FreezeLink in 2015 .
Addo explains that Covid-19 presented Food for All Africa with a challenge of scaling up during a pandemic to meet the rising demand for food and basic support . This meant that they needed the consultation of an experienced professional in the warehousing and logistics industry , and that was when they got in touch with Mr . Akota of FreezeLink . “ His advice and technical know-how was very supportive in enabling us to use the limited resources we had in putting in place the right measures to meet our scale up plans ,” says Addo .
FreezeLink connected them to the right resources for the supply of refrigeration and storage containers for their warehousing model . This ensured the most cost efficient and effective sourcing of warehousing items . “ For us at Food for All Africa , the opportunity of being mentored by a professional team at FreezeLink , helps us in furthering our mission of creating efficient and sustainable means of nutrition for needy Ghanaians through food banking and it is this kind of partnership that we are most grateful to foster ,” says Addo .
SOUTH AFRICA
Andy du Plessis joined FoodForward SA in 2013 as the managing director . He has spearheaded significant innovative change in FoodForward SA since his arrival , by introducing digital technology to connect beneficiary organisations to retail stores and food outlets , for the regular collection of surplus food as well as the Second Harvest initiative , a specific outreach programme to commercial farmers and growers across South Africa , for the recovery of surplus fruit and vegetables .
FoodForward SA is the largest food distribution non-profit organisation in South Africa . They connect a world of excess to a world of need by recovering quality surplus food from retailers , manufacturers , and farmers and re-distributing this food to over 1 000 registered and beneficiary
FoodForward SA
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1 and 2 : FoodForward SA is the largest food distribution non-profit organisation in South Africa .
organisations , reaching over half a million vulnerable people across all nine provinces of South Africa every day .
Their extensive infrastructure capacity enables them to recover massive amounts of surplus food from their supply chain partners . In fiscal year 2020 they distributed 7 215 tons of food , equating to 29 million meals . FoodForward SA has a fleet of refrigerated trucks and cold storage facilities ( cold rooms and freezers ) at all five warehouses , which allows them to maintain the cold chain during the recovery , storage , and distribution of perishable surplus food .
GCCA members and / or their parent companies are helping in South Africa . In the fiscal year 2020 , FoodForward SA ’ s supply chain partners receive Section 18a tax certificates for their donations , thereby improving their bottom line .
Across Africa GCCA ’ s member companies are working with food banks in partnership to feed their communities . These success stories , as well as the countless others , prove that when our cold storage companies work with the local food banks to feed their communities , together we can feed more than we can working apart .
The Global Cold Chain Alliance ( GCCA ) is a trade association representing the temperature-controlled supply chain , including cold storage , transportation , construction , equipment suppliers , and service providers . CLA
COLD LINK AFRICA • June 2021 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za 17