Cold chain reduces food loss by 76%: Study

Cold chain can reduce food loss by 76 per cent and also help improve profitability, besides cutting carbon emissions by 16 per cent, says a study.

According to a pilot study on Kinnow commissioned by Carrier, "Investment in the cold chain - specifically pre-cooling and transport refrigeration equipment - can reduce food loss by 76 per cent and carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2E) by 16 per cent."

Besides this, the profitability improved for the aggregator, distributor and retailer.

Those are the results of a pilot study on kinnow, a type of mandarin, commissioned by Carrier and released today at Carrier's World Cold Chain Summit held in Singapore.
 

Carrier is part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp.

The pilot study examined the extent to which the cold chain can help increase the quality, reach and profitability of kinnow, a citrus fruit rich in micronutrients and common to the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, by enabling sales out-of-season and in distant markets.

"This is an area of critical importance to India, which is the world's second largest producer of fruits and vegetables but accounts for just 1.5 per cent of global produce exports due to losses of up to 20-50 per cent of total production," it said.

The study was conducted by the Indian School of Business under the direction of the National Center for Cold-chain Development (NCCD) of India and Carrier Transicold India, and in collaboration with Balaji Kinnow, one of the largest aggregators in the Punjab region.

"The cold chain, simply put, serves as a cross- geographical bridge between a rural source and distant concentrations of consumption," said Pawanexh Kohli, chief advisor and CEO, NCCD.

"The cold chain is a modern agri-logistics system that is transformational in its impact and key to bringing about the next agricultural revolution. We look forward to many more, similar pilots to demonstrate the wide-reaching advantages of the cold chain," Kohli said.