Page 5 - LUA January - February 2023 Magazine

So how can air cargo position itself as a handling before and after harvesting. He
premium mode of transport for perishable
commodities like flowers? Is there a value
to be unlocked for this premium mode of
transport? Jeroen van der Hulst, owner and
founder of FlowerWatch, a Netherlands-
based centre of expertise and worldwide
trendsetter in monitoring and ensuring
the quality, value and vase life of fresh-cut
flowers and plants, thinks that there is As a Kenyan cargo
tremendous value to be unlocked.
Van der Hulst was evaluating the airline it is our
current position of air cargo as a mode responsibility to our
of transport in the light of recent customers to make
developments in Africa, particularly in
Kenya, and earlier in South America, sure that we are able
in how flower exporters have been to provide low cost,
experimenting container shipping as an reliable and direct
option to transport cut roses.
“We need to position air cargo as a air freight options
premium logistic mode. And I even dare to new markets
to say that sea freight cannot be successful so that we are not
without an excellent air cargo. The two
have to work together,” he said. He also over dependent on
argued that flower transport by ocean European carriers.
freight will be successful only if it ticks
all the important boxes like temperature, SANJEEV GADHIA
ASTRAL AVIATION
packaging, excellent production, excellent
JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2023Y - FEBRUARY 2023
JANUAR
called them the big five ifs.
The pandemic had a devastating impact
on Africa’s flower exporters, particularly
on those from Kenya, as they faced severe
shortfall in air freight capacity. The impact
was so severe that small-scale flower farms
were throwing away a fifth of their daily
produce meant for export even in the early
part of this year. However, the big players
managed to lock-in capacity through
advance bookings on airlines. This was
largely because the air freight capacity out
of Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International
Airport was yet recover fully from the
interruptions caused by Covid-19 in 2020.
The cost of transport is a main concern
for a large majority of Kenyan exporters
of horticulture products, such as flowers.
The air freight industry is well-developed
in Kenya and highly flexible to meet
demands. The sea freight industry of fresh
produce, however, is less developed and
could become many times larger.
Last year, a report published by
the Embassy of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands in Nairobi explored the
potential of sea freight for exporting flowers
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