To overcome the food transportation safety problems, what should be the future of the cold chain?

The term cold chain transportation is not unfamiliar, which can deliver items as small as snacks and toys and as large as household appliances to us. However,...

Oct 25,2023 | Hailey

The term "cold chain transportation" is not unfamiliar, which can deliver items as small as snacks and toys and as large as household appliances to us. However, the traditional logistics and transportation mode can only meet the transportation requirements of some items.

With the improvement of people's living standard, upgrading of consumption and higher and higher requirements for food, the transportation of some fresh meat, fruits, dairy products, etc. is still a problem. Cold chain transportation, as an emerging solution,cold chain has become a winning strategy to solve this problem.

So, what is cold chain transportation? As the name suggests, cold chain transportation is a way of using low temperature in the whole transportation process. At present, cold chain transportation is mainly applicable to several types of items: fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products and frozen processed products, as well as some pharmaceutical products.

Today we mainly talk about the cold chain transportation of food.cold warehouse For food products that need to be frozen and preserved, if they are transported through ordinary logistics, microorganisms will grow due to the long transportation time and the lack of refrigeration measures, which will lead to the deterioration of food products and increase the transportation loss.

Low temperature can effectively inhibit the respiration of microorganisms, so as to ensure the freshness of food, and further protect people's food safety.

So, how "cold" is cold chain transportation? The temperature range of cold chain transportation can be roughly divided into three: frozen transportation (-18 degrees to -22 degrees), usually used for the transportation of food with high requirements for freezing, such as frozen food or fresh meat; refrigerated transportation (0 degrees to 7 degrees), usually used for the transportation of food with strict requirements for preservation of freshness, such as fruits, vegetables and dairy products; constant-temperature transportation (18 degrees to 22 degrees), used for the transportation of food that needs to be kept at constant temperature to prevent overheating or overheating. constant temperature to prevent the loss of nutrients or deterioration of food due to too high or too low temperature.

The advantage of cold chain transportation is that it maximizes the freshness of the food. Refrigerated preservation starts from the time of picking or processing, and low temperature transportation is used throughout the whole process, and then refrigerated preservation is carried out after arriving at the point of sale. This mode of transportation greatly reduces the rate of spoilage of ingredients, does not affect the taste and flavor of food, reduces the loss of nutrients, extends the freshness period of food, and is more in line with the dietary philosophy of modern people.

Meanwhile, cold chain transportation also represents high efficiency. Compared with traditional transportation, the use of cold chain transportation allows people to taste more food from all over the world and satisfy the wishes of snackers.

However, there are some problems with cold chain transportation. First of all, China's cold chain industry started late, and despite its rapid development, there are still problems that need to be solved. First of all, the rate of cold chain circulation is low: most of the food in China is still transported at room temperature, and compared with other countries, the rate of cold chain circulation has a big difference; secondly, the enterprises are scattered and small and the cost is high: there are a lot of cold chain logistics enterprises in China, but there is a lack of industry giants with strong integration force, and the concentration of the industry is not high, so the various resources can't be integrated, and the vehicles can't be optimized for scheduling; lastly, there is a single mode of transportation: at present, China mainly adopts road transportation, though it is convenient and low cost. Lastly, single mode of transportation: at present, China mainly adopts road transportation, which is convenient and low-cost, but has a limited scope of application and fails to satisfy the ever-growing transportation demand. Other modes of transportation are still in their infancy, and it is difficult to complete the transportation task independently.

However, with the continuous improvement and stable development of the national economy, the scale of logistics industry will expand rapidly, and the demand for cold chain will also rise. As an important part of the logistics industry, cold chain logistics must be brave to break through, brave to innovate and make changes in order to keep up with the development wave of the times.

In order to realize better development prospects, we can take the following ways: First, multiple modes with promote transformation. Cold chain transportation can be combined and matched with various modes such as highway, railroad, sea transportation and shipping in order to improve efficiency, reduce cost and increase revenue. According to the different characteristics of goods and distance, choose the most suitable combination of transportation modes, so as to promote the transformation of the industry. Secondly, the integration and synergistic development of multiple enterprises. Cold chain logistics enterprises can be integrated through shareholding and holding, joint collaboration and resource redistribution to create a group of large cold chain logistics enterprises with strong financial strength, advanced business concepts and technical means, and strong core competitiveness. Integrating enterprises can reduce operation and management costs and improve the competitiveness of the cold chain transportation industry. Finally, open up multiple channels to win the future together. Opening up multiple channels such as producer+transportation, transportation+business, online+offline, Internet+Internet of Things, etc., can improve the efficiency of cold chain transportation, strengthen the sharing of resources within the industry, and create an interconnected logistics platform. Through the application of network and big data and other means in the logistics industry, a 24-hour cold chain temperature monitoring system is established to monitor the transportation temperature in real time; the information of transportation vehicles is integrated and shared, and information such as the origin of products, the transportation time limit, the type of transportation required and the location of sales are publicly announced; unified distribution is carried out in accordance with the location of sales, which saves time and cost; and the Internet is utilized to provide "time-slot distribution The unified distribution will be carried out according to the place of sale to save time and cost; the Internet will be used to provide services such as "time-sharing distribution" and "on-demand distribution", and customized distribution will be carried out for individuals and enterprises with special needs. These initiatives will promote the modernization of cold chain transportation and stimulate people's desire to consume.

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