The Team's Board Report - Mainfreight

9Mainfreight PerishablesMainfreight International Perishables is now in its5th year of being the exclusive handling Agent forOZFRESH Australia Pty Ltd.OZFRESH is the leading supply chain / growerfor fresh strawberries in Australia. When it is offseason, and production is very low and qualityis not at the best, Ozfresh begins to importstrawberries from the United States.Perishable cargo is time sensitive and every hourcounts; when we talk about strawberries – assoon as they are picked from the PADDOCK, it isa race to get them on the PLATE.The strawberries are handpicked, placed into thepunnets and fumigated at origin and then broughtdown to 2ºC.Prior to despatch for air freight, a Tectrol bag isplaced over the skid and oxygen is then replacedby carbon dioxide which places the plant intoa dormant stage. The key here is to maintain asuitable temperature to allow for the internationalairfreight journey along with the unexpectedchallenges we face in the air freight industry.Mainfreight International Perishables plays avery important role in the Logistics chain.Skids are placed onto a PMC ULD and flown toAustralia. The ULDs are completely insulated withfoil and then frozen gel packs are placed onto theskids to maintain temperature.From this moment on the clock starts ticking;every hour counts and handling is crucial.If temperatures increase the plant startsrespiration, which causes condensation toform within the punnets and can result in thestrawberries having a poor out turn.Mainfreight International Perishables kicks intogear and beats down the clock.Cargo is pre-cleared and AQIS is on standby for a600 unit piece count inspection (600 strawberries).The clock ticks faster as the product is in fullsunlight awaiting the AQIS inspection to befinalised.Upon arrival at Springbank Street the Warehouseteam swings into full operation, breaking downthe unit and immediately removing the Tectrolbags from the skids which then allows the oxygeninto the strawberries and stops any furthercondensation occurring. The skids are takenback to the consignee’s depot where timeslotshave already been made with supermarket chainsand interstate transport already waiting for thestrawberries to start the overnight journey.Early next morning strawberries are on thesupermarket shelves and in the local VictoriaMarket ready for the finest strawberries to beplaced onto the PLATE.72 hours from PADDOCK to PLATE – MainfreightInternational Perishables makes it happen!