Challenges in Managing the Cold Chain Logistics of Perishable Goods

The expansion of global trade and optimization of the supply chain has made it possible for perishable goods to travel long distances to reach the final consumer. Products such as flowers, vegetables, fruits, meat, and bakery items decay or deteriorate in quality when exposed to environmental conditions such as humidity or moisture. The transportation of such perishable goods is done with the help of temperature controlled cold chain logistics. Transporting such temperature-sensitive goods across thousands of miles poses some procurement challenge for cold chain logistics. Here are some of the major procurement pain points for cold chain logistics:

Lack of Traceability Across Supply Chain

Perishable goods may damage or decay when proper conditions are not met, and it is hard for the end consumer to identify where the break occurred in the transportation process. The break in cold chain logistics may take place during loading/unloading process, at freight forwarders place, or in unrefrigerated containers. The advent of RFID and GPS technology along with traceability standards in the cold chain logistics ensure the food safety.

Lack of Technical Expertise

Unlike the logistics of regular goods, different perishable goods have specific ranges of temperature that needs to be maintained. For instance, an ice cream needs to be kept at a temperature of -25°C; whereas, a temperature of 0-4°C will suffice for milk products. The staff may not be aware of such technicalities and may damage the product in-transit. As a result, it is essential for the buyers to engage with the suppliers to conduct training and offer technical expertise.

Lack of Communication Between Service Providers and Buyers

At present, IoT systems have not developed to a level where it can facilitate seamless communication between the service providers and buyers. Such a communication problem can cause delays in transportation and cause other problems as the goods are passed through multiple channel members across vast geographies. In the future, when IoT systems are widely used, buyers and sellers can communicate easily to clarify timeframes, delays, or variations in the transit period.

Read more about procurement pain points in the cold chain logistics and perishable goods transportation market along with supply market landscape, pricing, and procurement insights in SpendEdge’s upcoming procurement report on the perishable goods transportation market.

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