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SingaporeDecember 1-2, 2016

Meeting Review

2UTC Climate, Controls & SecurityWorld Cold Chain Summit Meeting Review

Highlights

149 delegates from 36 countries gathered in

Singapore for the third World Cold Chain Summit

to Reduce Food Loss, hosted by Carrier and

United Technologies Corp. Speakers included

representatives of the United Nations Environment

Programme - Think.Eat.Save, ReFED, Cemafroid-

Tecnea, India’s National Centre for Cold-chain

Development, YES Bank, the China Federation of

Logistics & Purchasing, the International Institute of

Refrigeration, the Global Cold Chain Alliance, and

a number of policymakers and business, academic

and industry leaders.

Food loss and waste is estimated to be as much

as 40 percent of total global food production,

contributing to hunger, carbon emissions, and

degraded land and water resources.

Conference speakers offered dynamic examples

from both developing and developed countries of the

positive impact that investment in the modern cold

chain can have on wasting less food, feeding more

people and healing the natural world.

Keynote addresses and panels focused on unveiling

hot spots in the food supply chain and exploring

solutions and financing to deploy modern cold

chain practices to reducing food loss and waste.

All of these activities support the UN Sustainable

Development 12.3 Goal calling for a halving of food

waste by 2030.

John Mandyck, Chief Sustainability Officer, United

Technologies, highlighted that food loss and waste

are “hiding in plain sight,” and represent a new

source that can feed 4 billion people, reduce

carbon emissions equivalent to all the cars driven

each year, and save enough water to meet the

annual needs of the entire continent of Africa. He

concluded that attendees had shifted from the “why”

to the “how” along the journey of the past three

World Cold Chain Summits.

Day 1

Opening

Jon Shaw, Director, Sustainability & Marketing

Communications, Carrier Transicold & Refrigeration

Systems (USA), greeted 149 delegates from 36

countries to the third World Cold Chain Summit on

behalf of Carrier and its parent company United

Technologies. Growing from 65 participants from

12 countries attending the first gathering in 2014,

this year’s Summit was among the most diverse

private-sector events devoted to cold chain

development.

Shaw reviewed highlights from the 2015 World Cold

Chain Summit. These included:

• An industry commitment to the UN Sustainable

Development 12.3 Goal, which calls for a halving

of food waste by 2030.

• An estimate from the International Institute of

Refrigeration (IIR) that 23 percent of food loss

in developing countries is due to lack of a

cold chain.

• Confirmation that greenhouse gas (GHG)

emissions from food waste could see a tenfold

net reduction if developing countries installed the

same level of cold chain as developed countries.

• A belief that “The Age of Food Efficiency”

has begun, with investment and education

possibilities available that have parallels with the

rise of the green building movement.


David Appel, President, Carrier Transicold &

Refrigeration Systems (USA), then introduced

United Technologies, the world’s leading provider

of products and services for aviation and global

building systems, and parent of Carrier, Carrier

Transicold and Sensitech, all companies that play

a leading role in innovating cold chain technologies.

Appel described some of these innovations,

including Carrier Transicold’s Citifresh™, a

truck refrigeration unit specifically designed

for developing regions to improve perishable

product quality and shelf life while reducing loss

and waste during transport. United Technologies

companies have also made investments in

telematics to wirelessly monitor truck-trailer

assets, and in remote monitoring capabilities to

manage equipment and schedule maintenance

in supermarkets.

“Our goal is to leverage our digital technology

even further to break down information barriers,

so we can better understand what is happening

to our food as it moves along the cold chain from

farm to fork,” Appel said. “This will provide greater

visibility to our customers and help reduce food

losses and waste during transport.”

Appel also addressed the issue of engines

and engineless technology. While conventional

refrigeration units use a stand-alone diesel engine

as a power source, he told the audience, many in the

industry believe that this technology will be phased

out over the next 10 to 20 years as regulators

continue to focus on reduced emissions. Earlier

in 2016, Carrier acquired technology that uses

the vehicle engine to power hydraulics to run

the refrigeration unit, eliminating the need for

a second stand-alone diesel engine. The result

is zero emissions, fuel savings and less noise.

“Engineless technologies are here to stay,”

Appel said.

Other efforts to reduce GHG emissions include

Carrier’s development of CO2 technology for

transport and commercial refrigeration, using CO2 as

a natural refrigerant to help reduce the level of CO2

emissions. Carrier has nearly 4,000 CO2 supermarket

systems installed across Europe. The company also

uses CO2 refrigerant in its NaturaLINE® container

unit, and is field-testing CO2 trailer units with two

major grocery fleets in Europe.

The goal of the Summit, Appel concluded, was to

develop a road map to reduce food loss and food

waste around the world. “Not only can we green

the cold chain, but by better managing our food

supply with cold chain technology, we can reduce

food loss and waste, feed more people, and reduce

greenhouse gas emissions associated with the

supply of food.”

Mandyck then took the audience through a high-

level overview of food loss, highlighting and updating

information from his book, Food Foolish. Mandyck

said he was encouraged by the industry’s progress

in reducing food loss and waste over the prior year,

and optimistic about the future. “We can apply

technology and make a significant difference in food

loss and waste,” he told the Summit audience. “I am

convinced that by working together we can find the

sustainable source of food that can save our planet.”

Highlights from Mandyck’s Food Foolish

overview included:


• Humankind has the capability today of

feeding 10 billion people, but 800 million are

chronically undernourished while 2 billion

suffer from malnutrition because up to 40

percent of all food is lost or wasted.

• Food loss creates 4.4 billion metric tons of CO2

annually, which, if measured as a country,

would be the world’s third largest emitter of

GHG emissions behind China and the US.

One-third of CO2 emissions are absorbed by

the ocean, contributing to a rise of 26 percent

in acidification over the prior 200 years while

helping to kill off the basic building blocks of life

in the ocean.

• Agriculture requires 70 percent of all freshwater

used by humankind; wasted food is also

wasted water.

• Food loss and waste is a source of nutrition

“hiding in plain sight” that can feed another

4 billion people, enough for everyone who will

join the planet by 2050. Solving the issue of

food loss and waste would also reduce CO2

emissions equivalent to removing every car

from every road every year, and conserve

enough water to fulfill the annual water needs of

the African continent.

Two-thirds of all losses occur at the production and

distribution level of the global food chain, Mandyck

told the Summit audience, while five of the top six

lost and wasted food categories are perishable

foods that supply humankind with a majority of its

necessary vitamins and nutrients. Despite this,

only 10 percent of global perishable foods are

refrigerated—the very foods that can benefit most

from simple refrigeration technologies. An expanded

cold chain has additional climate benefits, Mandyck

said, noting that for every ton of carbon eliminated

by growing the cold chain in emerging economies,

there is a 10-ton reduction in GHG emissions.

“In what other important system do we tolerate a

40 percent loss?” Mandyck asked participants.

“Food loss and waste is an important social and

economic opportunity, and the experts who can take

advantage of it are here today.”

Keynote Addresses – Food Loss & Waste

The Summit’s first keynote address was

presented by Clementine O’Connor, Think.Eat.

Save Coordinator, United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP) (France). Think.Eat.Save is a

campaign of the Save Food Initiative, a partnership

between UNEP, the United Nations Food and

Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Messe Düsseldorf

in support of the UN Secretary-General’s Zero

Hunger Initiatives. The Save Food Initiative seeks to

add its authority and voice to galvanize widespread

global, regional and national actions, and catalyze

more sectors of society to act on the issue of food

loss and waste.

O’Connor highlighted Target 12.3, the UN goal

adopted in September 2015 to halve food waste by

2030. She noted the founding in January 2016 of

Champions 12.3, a unique coalition of executives

collaborating to accelerate progress on delivery

against this critical target. While the US, European

Union and much of Africa have adopted goals

consistent with the UN goal, O’Connor said, “There

is still a lot of white space on the map.” UNEP

seeks additional participation from countries in Latin

America and Asia, from agribusiness companies, and

from cities, in which two-thirds of humankind will live

by 2050.


Think.Eat.Save places particular emphasis on food

waste at the retail and consumer segments of the

food supply chain. “We published a comprehensive

approach to food waste prevention programmes

at the national and local levels in 2014,” O’Connor

added, “and are now piloting this guidance in South

Africa and Saudi Arabia.” Modules include mapping

and measurement, policy, activities in households,

and activities in the supply chain.

“Start quantifying,” she suggested. “Generate more

action by more entities across more regions. Make

the ‘business case.’ Then increase investment and

accelerate capacity building.”

O’Connor introduced the Food Loss and Waste

Protocol, developed by World Resource Institute

(WRI), which was published in June 2016 to

provide a global standard for food loss and

waste measurement. “Companies can help by

encouraging their partners to measure loss and

waste and become actively involved in achieving the

Target 12.3 goals,” she said.

The morning’s second keynote address was given

by Eva Louise Goulbourne, Associate Director of

Programs & Communications, ReFED (USA). ReFED

is a nonprofit collaboration formed in 2015 of over

30 business, nonprofit, foundation and government

leaders committed to reducing food waste in the

United States. In March 2016, ReFED launched

“A Roadmap to Reduce U.S. Food Waste by 20

Percent,” the first-ever national economic study

and action plan driven by a multi-stakeholder

group committed to tackling food waste at scale.

Goulbourne told the audience that US food waste

consumes 18 percent of cropland, 19 percent of

fertilizer, 21 percent of freshwater and 21 percent

of landfill volume, and generates 5 percent of

national GHG emissions. Nearly 85 percent of

all food waste in the US happens in homes or

consumer-facing businesses such as restaurants,

retail grocers and institutional cafeterias. “I am

completely convinced,” Goulbourne said, “that the

issue of food waste is one that we can solve together

in our lifetimes.”

ReFED has estimated that an $18 billion investment

in 27 identified solution areas to reduce US food

waste by 20 percent will yield $100 billion in societal

economic value over a decade. All 27 solutions have

at least a break-even impact, and many have very

positive financial returns.

“Ultimately,” Goulbourne said, “as we looked

at the range of different solutions that can drive

reductions in food waste, we identified four cross-

cutting actions that are needed to scale food waste

reductions.” These include:

• To overcome bottlenecks to unlocking $18

billion in financing, $100 million to $200 million

annually is needed in catalytic grants, innovation

investments and low-cost project finance.

• Commonsense policy adjustments are needed

to scale federal food donation tax incentives,

standardize safe handling regulations, and boost

recycling infrastructure by expanding state and

local incentives and reducing permitting barriers.

The biggest lever to accelerate change is

comprehensive federal legislation.

• Key technology and business-model innovations

are needed around packaging and labeling, IT-

enabled transportation and storage, logistics


software, value-added compost products, and

distributed recycling.

• Launching a widespread training effort to change

the behavior of food business employees is

critical. In addition, campaigns to raise food

waste awareness among consumers will yield

substantial improvements.

“Every year,” Goulbourne concluded, “American

consumers, businesses and farms spend $218

billion—roughly 1.3 percent of GDP—on food

that is never eaten. This is absurd and totally

unnecessary. Once we realize the real cost of food,

we can truly avoid wasting such a precious resource,

in the US and globally.”

Panel 1—The Cold Chain

The Summit’s first panel was chaired by Gérald

Cavalier, President, Cemafroid-Tecnea (France).

Cavalier reminded the audience that the cold chain

has been protecting food and providing a financial

return for 140 years. However, its impact today

is still unevenly spread; there are 10 times less

domestic refrigeration, transport and storage

assets in developing countries than in developed

countries, resulting in three times more food loss

in developing countries. “We have an opportunity

to build bridges between people, organizations

and countries,” Cavalier said, “to build a robust

cold chain.”

The panel’s first speaker was Pawanexh Kohli,

CEO & Chief Advisor, National Centre for Cold-

chain Development (NCCCD) (India). The NCCCD

is focused on food loss by applying the right

kinds of technologies in the right areas to reduce

inefficiencies in the cold chain. “The 1.3 billion tons

of food lost and wasted globally is 44 percent fruits

and vegetables,” Kohli said. “The problem is real and

the problem is major.”

Kohli drew a distinction between food loss,

which occurs upstream before reaching retail and

consumer markets, and food waste, which occurs in

the hands of the consumer and at the consumption

level. “Focusing only on food waste means that

we accept food loss to start with,” he said,

“and this is unacceptable! Food loss is NOT

sustainable.” Then Kohli challenged the Summit

audience on a number of traditional cold chain

principles. “All food must be handled with one end

use in mind,” he said: “consumption.” This suggests

that gainful productivity is not just a measure of

traditional farm and postharvest yield, but involves

food delivery, market access and market reach. He

explained the differentiation between “holding life”

and “shelf life” of a food item. Holding life was the

period under care in its entire supply chain journey,

with shelf life achieved only after it reaches a

retailer’s shelf. “Shelf life is a small period of the total

holding life. Without the cold chain,” Kohli added,

“the holding life is limited, narrowing the range of

accessible markets, and the final time left on the

shelf is even smaller.”

Expanding on this concept, he told the Summit

audience that food loss is not a static measure. In

large parts of the world, farmers discard their harvest

due to lack of any logistics connectivity with markets

—the refrigerated trucks, trailers and containers

used to move perishable product. India has only 12

percent capacity ratio in cold transport-to-stationary

refrigeration, Kohli said. “We have not completed the

chain. It is our biggest weak link.”


Despite adding 1 million tons of capacity in cold

storage last year, taking India’s cold storage

capacity to 34 million tons, the world’s largest, the

country requires another $15 billion in investment

to meet today’s demand for cold chain assets and

connectivity. “We need more capacity to handle

more of what we produce, so that we can produce

even more.” Indians spend about 45 percent of their

income on food, “so by reducing food loss we can

improve our society on many levels.” Already, the

globe’s food loss and waste was adding 4.4 billion

tons in greenhouse gas emissions to our

fading environment.

India has large distances compounded with unique

infrastructure problems. India needs to bridge

the gap between demand and supply. “The cold

chain can be that logistics bridge from farm to

consumers,” Kohli said. “Uncovering solutions for

food loss means maintaining a ‘delivery bias’ moving

from food in banks to food on shelves, making

food accessible to consumers. Greater global

collaboration is a must for global sustenance.”

Finally, he challenged the audience by reframing

loss and waste in the global food model. We live in

a “delivery-constrained society,” he said. “It’s not

that we lose only 30 percent of food production.

It’s that we can only handle 60 percent of what

we use. Everything else is a 100 percent loss. And

this loss has a multiplier effect when factoring in

the environment impact. Food loss is critical to

survival of our civilization.”

The panel’s second speaker was Zhongfu Cui, Vice

President & Secretary-General, China Federation

of Logistics & Purchasing. The Chinese cold chain

market was valued at CNY $180 billion in 2015, with

annual revenue of the top 100 companies reaching

CNY $18 billion. The industry is projected to grow by

over 20 percent annually over the next three to five

years, including both refrigerated warehouses and

refrigerated vehicles. Market drivers for cold chain

growth include introduction in 2015 of a strict

food safety law, growing demand by consumers

for enhanced food safety and quality, and a sharp

increase in the urban population, which raises

the demand for perishable products. The country’s

“Belt and Roads Initiatives” is also driving cross-

border food trade, propelling the development of a

sophisticated logistics industry. “China has become

the world’s largest food importer and consumer,”

Cui noted.

“Because of a lack of cold chain in China,” he said,

“we believe our loss of related product is about

30 percent. Investment in precooling is helping to

reduce the loss in the last few years, but challenges

remain.” These include an “irrational infrastructure,”

with low refrigerated vehicle resources compared to

refrigerated warehouse space. Cui also noted the

lack of staff to monitor and coordinate cold chain

activities, the lack of unified standards, and

generally poor awareness of the social and

economic advantages that result from robust

cold chain logistics.

There are many positive trends, however. Cui said

that area branding of agricultural products has

begun, offering huge potential. More transportation

methods such as railway cold chain logistics are

being introduced, and fresh e-commerce is booming.

And, while talent is urgently needed, Cui said, “our

federation has initiated a development program, and

there are now 500 institutions providing academic


training in logistics in China. We are also increasing

on-the-job training and importing standards.”

The panel’s third speaker was Judith Evans,

the UK representative to the IIR and professor,

London South Bank University (UK). The IIR is the

only intergovernmental science and technology-

based organization that promotes knowledge of

refrigeration and associated technologies to improve

quality of life in a cost-effective and environmentally

sustainable manner. The organization consists of

58 member countries, 510 private and corporate

members and 500 experts, and has commissions

related to food science and engineering, refrigerated

storage and refrigerated transport.

Evans noted that the IIR has identified as key issues

the world’s growing population, urbanization,

growing consumer expectations, climate change

and depletion of natural resources. She reiterated

the fact that 23 percent of food losses in developing

countries and 9 percent in developed countries are

caused by a lack of refrigeration.

With these issues in mind, the organization’s

initiatives encompass low temperature technologies,

low global warming refrigerants, and food quality

and safety from farm to consumer. IIR “working

parties,” which meet for a defined period around a

specific problem and then disband, are focused on

issues such as the performance of the cold chain in

hot climates. This particular working party is about

18 months old and has worked to raise awareness

of decision-makers and stakeholders with regards

to the cold chain, identify problems with cold

chain operations in warm countries, and introduce

guidelines and training on good cold chain practices.

IIR also hosts conferences and workshops, research,

and provides industry information, including

publishing the International Journal of Refrigeration.

“The IIR has potentially huge networks to be able

to help the food waste initiative,” Evans concluded,

encouraging membership.

Panel 2—Hot Spots in Emerging Segments

After lunch, Richard Tracy, International Programs

Director, Global Cold Chain Alliance (USA), hosted

the day’s second panel focused on “Hot Spots in

Emerging Segments” of the cold chain.

The first panelist was Annette Phoebe Young, Supply

Chain Director of ExFresh (China). Young began by

telling the audience that “e-commerce in China is

crazy, just crazy. You can’t imagine. But with this

kind of growth, how do you build logistics?” China’s

fresh product e-commerce is expected to reach

US $21 billion in 2016 and has, over the last five

years, grown 22 times. ExFresh has 10 warehouses

and 150 delivery hubs across China, having grown

from 700 to 4,200 people in 18 months. Still, Young

said, the upside is enormous because penetration

nationally of fresh product e-commerce is just 2

percent. “We can grow two to three times annually

for the next five years,” she added.

The main challenge in 2015 was national expansion

of the company’s logistics footprint. Logistics in

China, Young said, are expensive, and food loss

is great. Fulfillment costs for ExFresh are still

about 30 percent of total costs, she noted, which

is down historically but still too high. In 2016, the

company focused on efficiency and how to improve

service delivery. “For fresh products delivered to

a customer’s house, we have to open items for

inspection. If the customer is not happy, the product


will be returned. Delivery is a very challenging job.”

Losses are 5-8 percent, “still too high.” The company

is seeking to make greater use of information to

scale its operations. “If we don’t use technology and

information, it will be a nightmare,” she added.

ExFresh wants to pioneer the changing cold

chain in China by strengthening and completing

the food logistics network, enhancing technology,

improving fresh product technology and solutions

for all conditions (fruit is freezing in northern

China, for example), and establishing a platform

that allows third-party warehouses and trucks

to share information. “Even if growth is crazy,” she

concluded, “today is the time to build the cold chain

to service e-commerce fresh product in China.”

In contrast to this extraordinary growth, Dr. D.

Sylvain Dabadé, Assistant Professor, Food Science

and Nutrition, University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin),

discussed challenges in the West African country

of Benin. Located near the equator, Benin has a

population of 11 million. Agriculture contributes

35 percent of GDP. The country ships produce

and seafood but lacks adequate cold storage

facilities, transportation infrastructure, packaging

resources and refrigerated transportation.

Dabadé noted that there is a lack of cold

chain awareness and education, and generally

disorganized supply chains. Food losses can climb

to 50 percent.

Opportunities within Benin include a willingness by

stakeholders to improve cold chain management,

bolster training and construct cold storage facilities.

The shrimp industry has received investment from

Belgium, and the country partnered with some Dutch

universities to perform research on conditions that

will enable a stable access of its main exported

products to the international market. “There is a

need to increase the awareness of the importance

of cold chain management, and the need for more

local government investment. We also believe,” Dr.

Dabadé said, “that importing countries might provide

technical and managerial assistance for exporting

countries with limited resources.”

The panel’s third speaker was Dr. Majeed

Mohammed, Postharvest Physiologist, University

of the West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago), who

discussed gaps in the cold chain in the Caribbean.

Produce is often covered when transported, he

said, though not ventilated or refrigerated. It can

be stored in a holding area that is also not chilled.

Sometimes product is chilled in storage but then

prepared in ambient conditions—and then placed

back in refrigeration. At other times, incompatible

commodities are stored within the same room.

Postharvest losses on bananas range from 30-40

percent and on peppers from 40-50 percent.

There is reason for optimism, Dr. Mohammed

said, and local models that work. For example,

the Bahamas has a robust cold chain. And the

Postharvest Education Foundation (PEF) is

providing training, tools and basic equipment. As

of 2015, more than 125 people had graduated from

PEF e-learning, going on to train more than 30,000

farmers and food handlers. “We need an unbroken

cold chain from harvest to delivery to retailer or

supermarket,” Dr. Mohammed concluded, “to extend

shelf life, reduce shipping and retailer waste, provide

better consumer availability, and increase revenue.”


Panel 3—Hot Spots in Mature Segments

The third panel of Day One of the World Cold

Chain Summit was chaired by Manuel Madrid, Fruit

Profits (Spain) and focused on “Hot Spots in Mature

Segments” of the cold chain.

The first speaker was Ben Horsbrugh, Quality

Management—Fresh Produce, Greenyard Foods

(Belgium), a global player in fruits and vegetables.

Company segments include fresh, frozen and

prepared foods, and growing media and soil

improvers. Horsbrugh concentrated on three hot

spots from the perspective of a mature cold

chain market:

• Data Management. Cold chain data in fresh

produce supply chains is rarely visible and can

be difficult to interpret, he said. He emphasized

the need to create solutions that use data

more effectively, showing one example

that combined knowledge of quality and

temperature to predict shelf life.

• Climate Volatility. Horsbrugh highlighted

examples of extreme weather such as heat and

rain, and its impact on perishable quality and

shelf life. He questioned whether cold chain

technology could be used to mitigate quality

issues related to conditions he characterized as

“at the limit.”

• The Retail Store. Finally, he asked, “Is cold

chain technology key to reducing food waste at

the point of sale?”

Horsbrugh concluded his discussion by saying that

“the technology is there but sometimes it’s not being

used, and when it’s being used we need to take the

time to figure the best way to use it.”

Scott Devers, Regional Seafreight Manager—

Reefer Logistics, Kuehne + Nagel (Singapore),

introduced his company, which has 1,200 offices

and 69,000 employees, including more than 300

reefer specialists dedicated to temperature control.

He provided the Summit audience with an overview

of the container market, saying that of 175 million

global Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) capacity,

5.2 percent were reefer containers. He addressed

the issue of supply consolidation and a shift from

air-to-sea volumes, and identified hot spots in the

mature cold chain. These included a lack of cold

chain knowledge and training within the industry,

and a greater need for preconditioning of cargo.

“Most reefers are moved without adequately

preconditioned product due to cost, timing,

lack of infrastructure and limited cold chain

knowledge,” Devers said.

Adam Wade, National Transport Leader, Lion Dairy

& Drinks (Australia), focused delegates on food loss

and waste in Australia, a country that creates 7.5

million metric tons of food waste annually, equivalent

to 6.8 million metric tons of GHG emissions. “Food

waste contributes approximately one-third of the

country’s municipal solid waste,” Wade said, “and

about one-fifth of commercial and industrial

waste streams.”

The Lion Dairy & Drinks (Lion) business is being

challenged by its customer base to extend

shelf life of its dairy and juice products while at

the same time recently experiencing a number of

deliveries that did not meet with its stringent internal

temperature compliance guidelines. In response,

Lion met with industry and cold chain experts,

collaborated more closely with its customers,


invested in intensive network trials, and undertook

independent cold chain performance testing.

Results of these initiatives included confirmation

of considerable variability in the environments

in which Lion must operate, and the discovery

of considerable variability in airflow and thermal

efficiency within its refrigerated transport network.

“Return air in a reefer,” Wade said, “is not a true

indicator of product condition.” The company also

identified a “little-known but helpful” standard for

the construction and commissioning of trailers upon

which it could develop internal protocols.

The outcome of Lion’s work was the creation

of a clearly defined refrigeration policy for

carrying freight, development of an auditing

and compliance program specific to outbound

logistics, and a defined future state for vehicles

carrying Lion freight, including independent

monitoring and minimum thermal efficiency.

Lion’s intensive focus on the cold chain has paid

off, with a 77 percent reduction in costs associated

with temperature-related waste, and an 85

percent reduction in delivery complaints caused

by temperature. “We are actively engaging in the

industry to raise the standard of refrigerated trailer

equipment in Australia,” Wade told the audience.

He added, “I urge you to act now by looking more

deeply into your product and transport capability

to maximize the opportunities residing in your

outbound cold chain.”

Day 2

Shaw welcomed participants for Day Two of the

World Cold Chain Summit and introduced the chair

of the session’s first panel, Mark Cywilko,

former President of Carrier Transicold. Having

been involved in the cold chain since the 1970s,

Cywilko introduced his panel’s topic—“The Cold

Chain Frontier”—by saying that only in recent years

has real progress been made in linking cold chain

performance with food loss and waste. The day’s

panel, Cywilko added, would demonstrate

these advances.

Panel 1—Exploration: The Cold Chain Frontier

Pankaj Mehta, Managing Director, Carrier Transicold

India, presented a pilot cold chain study conducted

in India targeting cold chain development. India

is the second largest producer of fruits and

vegetables in the world, Mehta said, but less

than 1 percent moves through the cold chain.

India needs 50,000 reefer vehicles and 70,000

packhouses in order to meet current demand for

refrigerated services. Without this, between 30-40

percent of horticultural produce gets wasted. Some

of the waste comes not from discarded product,

but from value reduction due to lack of a robust

cold chain.

“People in India believe the cold chain is expensive

and complex,” Mehta said. To respond, Carrier

partnered with the National Centre for Cold-chain

Development to prove the viability of the cold chain

for a specific product, one that could be used to

provide a framework for other perishables. The

product selected was the kinnow, a high-vitamin and

juicy variety of mandarin that generates as much as

32 percent waste as it moves along the food chain.

Working with Balaji, a large kinnow aggregator, a

pilot cold chain route was set between Abohar in

the Punjab state in north India, to Bangalore in the

south, a distance of approximately 2,500 kilometers

(1,600 miles).


While current practice is to ship in open trucks, the

pilot protocol added precooling, cold storage and

reefers. The results were a substantial increase in

holding life, a reduction in food loss of 76 percent

and in GHG emissions of 16 percent, an increase

in wholesale price (assisted by the ability to sell

in off-season), and profits that rose from 2-21

percent. “These are lessons that can be applied to

the entire industry,” Mehta said.

Eric Prieur, Director of Cold Chain Sustainability,

Carrier Transicold & Refrigeration Systems (France),

introduced the “Cool label” concept to the audience

as a way of promoting cold chain effectiveness

to the consumer, similar to what the timber and

seafood industries have done to promote the value

of certified, sustainable products. “Those two

examples are inspiring,” Prieur said. “What would it

look like to certify the cold chain?” he asked. Prieur

also referenced the U.S. Green Building Council® and

its LEED® certification as another example of how an

industry can connect sustainability with quality and

standards, driving consumer demand.

Prieur issued a call to action, asking Summit

attendees for their help in creating a cross-cutting

team willing to propose and pilot a cold chain

certification process. “Certifying the cold chain,”

Prieur said, “will go a long way toward enhancing

efforts to reduce food loss and waste.”

The panel’s third speaker, Kevin Fay, Executive

Director, Global Food Cold Chain Council (USA),

introduced his organization, which was formed

in 2014 and organized by a coalition of major

companies from around the world. Its goals are

to reduce GHG emissions in the processing,

transportation, storage and retail display of cold

food, to stimulate demand for energy-efficient,

low-global warming potential (GWP) technology,

and to work with the UNEP’s Climate and Clean

Air Coalition to advance broad-based public and

private sector collaborative solutions to reduce

hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions in the food

cold chain.

“While the initial focus was on reducing HFC

emissions,” Fay said, “the whole issue of food

waste jumped out at us because of the potential

impact on GHG reductions.” This transformed one

of the organization’s goals into a drive to create

a sustainable food cold chain, with emphasis on

connecting the dots for policymakers between food

waste, food loss and equipment enhancement.

“There is an enormous amount of work that goes on

every day around food loss and waste,” Fay said,

“but it’s disconnected from the policy process.”

The Global Food Cold Chain Council is driving

policy change by investing in research that builds

knowledge, strengthening connections between

industry and policymakers, and building capacity

and standards across regions and countries. “We

have to bring together technology and opportunity

in a way that policymakers understand,” Fay added,

“that will give the industry access to opportunities

and funding.”

The final speakers on the panel were Mark Mitchell,

Managing Director, SuperCool Asia Pacific

(Australia), and Steven Finn, Co-founder and

Managing Director, ResponsEcology (USA), who

presented a concept called FoodPort, envisioned as

a centralized solution to process food and send it to

an appropriate destination. “FoodPort is a place to

optimize food resources,” Mitchell said, and


is based on the premise that sometimes food is

wasted because “it has nowhere to go.”

“We know there is a need for such facilities around

the world, especially in the developing world,” Finn

said. The idea requires investment, commitment

and collaboration—likely with public-private

partnerships. “No one stakeholder can make it

happen,” Finn added. The two founders are now

exploring partnerships for a feasibility study to prove

out the project. “By restoring the value of food and

providing a place to process it,” Mitchell said,

“we can reduce waste.”

Panel 2—The Cold Rush: Cold Chain Financing

The final panel of the third Cold Chain Summit was

hosted by Eric Schultz, co-author of Food Foolish

and former CEO of Sensitech. He introduced the

first speaker, Nitin Puri, Senior President & Country

Head—FASAR (Food & Agribusiness Strategic

Advisory & Research) at YES Bank.

Puri provided the audience with a perspective

on cold chain investment in India, which totals

$3 billion annually and is growing at 16-17 percent.

He echoed earlier presenters in reminding the

audience that India’s cold chain was incomplete,

weighted much more heavily toward cold storage

than cold transit, but could be a “huge enabler.”

Consumers in India are becoming more discerning,

seeking greater convenience and safety in food.

Among other market drivers, Puri said, the cold chain

is now included under the umbrella of agriculture

as a priority sector investment by Indian banks.

“Technology and infrastructure are also improving,”

he said, “and lenders are increasingly willing to make

loans based on cash flow returns. Solutions are

also becoming more contextualized,” Puri added,

while co-ops are growing in size and capability, and

public-private partnerships are also being seen more

favorably. “The end-to-end cold chain phenomenon

is finally shaping up in India,” Puri said.

The panel’s second speaker, Brad Johnson,

President, Resource Mobilization Advisors (USA) and

Active Private Sector Observer to the Green Climate

Fund Board of Directors, observed that of the 161

“Nationally Determined Contributions” submitted by

governments under the Paris Agreement, 80 percent

mention agriculture. This is because agriculture

projects can include food security, expanded

production, reduced use of resources and land use

management. By combining climate mitigation

and adaptation measures, Johnson said, “these

agriculture projects—and specifically cold chain

projects—can have more benefits than renewable

energy projects.”

The Green Climate Fund is the largest and most

recent multi-donor fund to finance climate change

projects, and is expected to raise $100 billion by

2020. The fund has already approved a limited

number of projects, which must be host-country

driven. Success in accessing the fund is driven by

the ability to leverage private financing, sustainability

and affordability. Johnson highlighted projects

in Namibia, Morocco, Madagascar and Ecuador

designed to adopt climate-resilient agriculture,

reduce deforestation, and improve agricultural and

livestock production practices.

Closing Remarks

Mandyck closed the third World Cold Chain Summit

by recapping the keynotes and panels, and thanking


participants. “I am grateful for the opportunity to

learn from each of you,” he said. Mandyck reminded

the audience that the cold chain has been serving

society for 140 years, and—based on what had been

demonstrated at the Summit—participants might

begin to shift their perspective from thinking “40

percent food loss and waste” to “100 percent

loss of the nutritious food we’re not capable

of handling.” He concluded by emphasizing the

following points:

1. “Our sole purpose at the first three World Cold

Chain Summits has been to initiate a new global

dialogue to change the paradigm on food:

We need to waste less so we can feed more

people while providing tremendous benefits

to the natural world.”

2. The participants to the Summit are moving

from “why” to “how.” “In a natural evolution,”

Mandyck said, “we began by asking why we lost

and wasted food, and now we’re asking how we

can change the paradigm, and taking action

to do so.”

3. “Last year,” Mandyck added, “we declared that

the Age of Food Efficiency had begun. The

industry can continue to draw important

lessons from the energy efficiency

movement, which found ways to take the

same supply and more effectively spread it

across growing demand.”

And finally, Mandyck asked Summit delegates to

think of food loss and waste not as a problem, but

as an enormous opportunity. “Where else can we

immediately create a new source of food that

can feed 4 billion people? Where else can we

find reductions in carbon equivalent to emissions

from all the cars and trucks driven each year?

Where else can we save enough water to

serve the annual needs of the entire continent

of Africa? It’s hiding in plain sight,” Mandyck

concluded. “This is an opportunity that can be

unlocked by everyone in this room. It truly is the

opportunity for how we can sustainably feed

the planet.”

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