15,248 kgs of fresh food delivered from Tanzania to Doha in record uplift

In what signals the growing might of Tanzania's meat exports and the growing perishable logistics sector in the region, a recent shipment that flew on aboard a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner passenger aircraft created a record of being the largest meat shipment to ever fly to out of Dar-es-Salaam (DAR) in Tanzania to New Doha International Airport (DOH) in Doha, Qatar. Dar-es-Salaam is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania.

"This was a shipment of goat meat, which is the majority of meat that we uplift from Tanzania. We also transport lamb and beef meat at times. There has been an increase in Tanzanian exports to Qatar, meat being one of the export items. The 15,000+ kg goat meat was transported for delivery to three supermarkets, to be sold to consumers." Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways told The STAT Trade Times about the cargo which was shipped out a few weeks ago. Even as the meat exports from Tanzania are on a rise, apart from beef chief among them is goat meat. Close to 15,248 kgs of goat meat were transported as part of this record uplift.

Speaking about the journey of shipment and the cold chain in which it was maintained, Halleux said, "We offer two temperature ranges for transportation of perishables: 2°- 8° Celsius, and 15°- 25° Celsius. Meat is usually transported at temperatures of between 2°- 8° Celsius. Qatar Airways Cargo deploys state-of-the-art cool containers to ensure the correct temperature throughout the journey, and handling in our warehouses is also carried out in dedicated cold storage facilities. As with all perishable goods due for human consumption, Qatar Airways Cargo adopts strict quality standards and continuously adapts its handling processes to ensure customer and market requirements are more than met."

More recently, Mashimba Mashauri Ndaki, the Tanzanian Minister of Livestock and Fisheries told the media that Tanzania exported 5362.9 tonnes of meat worth 22.4 million US dollars between July 2021 and January 2022. He said that meat was exported to Saudi Arabia, China, Qatar, Vietnam, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman and that meat production rose 5.2% in 2020 to 738,166 tonnes, up from 701,700 tonnes in 2019. Interestingly Tanzania also features in the top 10 beef producers in Africa as per FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) data.

While this shipment was destined for delivery to three different supermarkets in Qatar on behalf of three different shippers, the transportation of the meat shipments out of Dar es Salaam was undertaken in the lower deck of passenger flights on Qatar Airways.

"It is a perfect, dense commodity that allows for good use of the available cargo volume. The shipment was a consolidation originating from different customers. Meat export from Dar es Salaam to Doha and other Middle East destinations is rapidly increasing at the moment, and we expect this trend to continue. We see a good mix of all kinds of commodities flying out of Tanzania. Aside from various meat shipments, we also fly general cargo, a variety of fruit and vegetables, flowers, seafood products, as well as gemstones," Halleux shared.

Halleux added that Qatar Airways Cargo complies with IATA's Perishable Cargo Regulations which lays out the standard operating procedures for the acceptance and handling of all perishable products, including meat. "We are members of the logistics quality assessment platform, Validaide, the Cool Chain Association, Pharma. aero, IATA LAPB, and TTWG (Live Animals and Perishables Board and Time and Temperature Working Group), which means that we are in regular contact with experts and the markets, and continuously adapt our products to best match changing requirements. As stated previously, we use state-of-the-art cool equipment and facilities to ensure that the cool chain remains intact," he added.