Challenges Of Cold Chain Logistics For Fruits & Vegetables

Commissioned in 1974, Mother Dairy is the biggest manufacturer of dairy products in India specializing in marketing & selling a wide range of milk & milk products, including cultured products, ice creams, paneer and ghee under the Mother Dairy brand.

- Mihir Mohanta

India is one amongst the world’s largest producers of several Fruits & Vegetable. With about 280 MMT, it is second only to China in terms of total production. It ranks number one in Mango, Banana, Okra and number two in Potato & Tomato. But if you look at the extent of processing, it is just about two percent. Therefore, most of the fruits & vegetable that is produced in India is consumed as fresh.

The large quantity of production is also associated with a very large quantity of wastage. As per CIPHET, 18 percent of our production valued at Rs.13,300 crore is lost annually. While the reasons of losses are many, one of the simple & easiest explanation most often cited is post-harvest losses due to lack of the cold chain facilities. On analysis of the cold chain, some of the facts that emerge are:

Approximately, 104 MMT of perishables are transported between cities each year.

Of this, about 100 MMT moves via non-reefer mode and only four MMT is transported by reefer.

Majority of the refrigerated vehicles (>80 percent) are utilized for milk & milk products.

The percentage movement of fruits & vegetables through cold chain is negligible, while in Thailand it is 30-40 percent and in U.S. 80-85 percent.

Potato which occupies 75 percent volume of the cold store does not require refer transport either for inward or outward movement.