Recognising the shortage of local training facilities that serve the cooling industry at Cape Town Harbour , Crossberth Cold Store has engaged with key service providers to establish and maintain a specialised training academy .
CONTRIBUTORS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Crossberth & Future People Practice Centre & Training Academy
Recognising the shortage of local training facilities that serve the cooling industry at Cape Town Harbour , Crossberth Cold Store has engaged with key service providers to establish and maintain a specialised training academy .
This academy will focus on developing the complete skills range essential to the cold storage and refrigeration sectors , not only in South Africa but across the African continent , including North , East , and West Africa .
Carlos De Mendonca , general manager of Crossberth , is deeply committed to elevating expertise in both the land-based cooling industry and the fishing fleet ’ s processing and handling areas . His vision encompasses the entire cold chain — from initial processes onboard fishing vessels , food safety , and product cooling to the end consumer . This was reinforced at the recent Global Cold Chain Alliance ( GCCA )
By Andrew Perks
conference in Cape Town , where industry leaders identified cold chain management as a critical future challenge . With approximately 40 % of food in the region currently being spoiled , and the population projected to rise significantly , the need to secure the food supply through proper cold chain management has never been more urgent . Achieving this will require a workforce equipped with specialised skills .
Carlos has engaged top experts across various sectors to build the academy from the ground up . One of these experts is Dr Robin Ferguson from Future People , who has been pioneering training in the fishing industry since 1995 . Having worked with major fishing groups , Robin has developed a broad range of skill-development programmes , particularly in product handling and processing in a cold chain environment .
South Africa ’ s young and rapidly growing population highlights the urgent need for both skills development and employment opportunities — areas where Robin ’ s expertise will be invaluable . The Crossberth & Future People Practice Centre & Training Academy uses classroom-based training , practical exercises and simulation . This is backed up by vessel management training and production skills training at sea . As for many processing plants , the cold chain is central to the quality of the finished product .
Andrew Perks is a subject expert in ammonia refrigeration . Since undertaking his apprenticeship in Glasgow in the 1960s he has held positions of contracts engineer , project engineer , refrigeration design engineer , company director for a refrigeration contracting company and eventually owning his own contracting company and low temperature cold store . He is now involved in adding skills to the ammonia industry , is merSETA accredited and has written a variety of unit standards for SAQA that define the levels to be achieved in training in our industry .
26 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za COLD LINK AFRICA • November / December 2024