Cruise line looks for solution to rotten produce problem

David Mizer doesn’t pull any punches, and he’s calling the produce industry “shy.”

Mizer is vice president of strategic sourcing for Carnival Cruise Lines. He oversees purchases for the company, including the buying of perishables like fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables.

Carnival Cruise Lines operates 24 ships – with three more on the way – that serve a combined 1.2 million meals every day. And anyone who’s ever been on a cruise knows that meals on a ship are not simple fare. Carnival announced in January that it had partnered with Chef Georges Blanc, a French restaurateur. He’ll be creating exclusive menu items for the fleet’s main dining rooms, as well as a new dining option: The upscale and reservation-only supper clubs found on eight ships. The fleet’s poolside restaurants recently underwent renovations to include full breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets, 35-item salad bars and ethnic specialties – including a “Taste of the Nation” section that features a different international cuisine each day.

Carnival spends more than $80 million a year on fruits and vegetables for its cruise ships, but the company would pay more for better quality produce, Mizer said.

“Price is always important, but it’s not the driving force. We buy based upon value. Freshness, quality and shelf life are what we are looking for,” Mizer said.

In an average week, Carnival ships will serve more than 1,500 individual items, including 296,000 potatoes, 192,000 tomatoes, 120,000 bananas, 113,000 heads of iceberg lettuce, 64,000 apples, 37,000 bell peppers, 28,000 pineapples and 22,000 cucumbers.

The biggest issue for the cruise ship operator is getting produce on the ships that is still fresh and will last a few days. Carnival suppliers typically ship to a distribution facility in Miami, where produce and other goods are loaded into cargo containers and shipped to a port. The containers are part of Carnival’s logistical distribution – and it’s not easy on produce, so getting fresh produce to the distribution center with enough shelf life to reach a port is vital, Mizer said.

“So much of the supply chain doesn’t understand where the damage occurs,” Mizer said.

Anyone who’s been on a cruise ship knows that the experience is all about excess. Food is available 24 hours a day and almost never in small portions. But fruits and vegetables are taking a more prominent role in meal preparation and buffets on the ships, he said. Carnival caters to a younger clientele, and they’re asking for more healthful options.

“We’re not trying to make people healthy, we’re trying to make people happy,” Mizer said. “What the guests say they want, they get.”

In addition to serving millions of customers each year, Carnival also has to feed the large crews of the ships. There are almost 90 nationalities represented in the crews, so diversity of meal options is a necessity. Customers also want more diversity, Mizer said, so finding ethnic food of the area the ship is in takes priority. Sourcing fresh tropical fruit in the Caribbean is an example.

Carnival doesn’t use fresh-cut or value added produce currently, Mizer said. Shelf life and freshness considerations limit the use of fresh-cuts, so raw product is sent to ships and prepared by the cooking staffs. The crew undergoes rigorous food safety training, and the U.S. Public Health Service, not local health officials, inspects the cooking facilities on the ships. Mizer said the ship’s are probably cleaner than the most restaurants on shore because the inspections are tougher and food safety is very important to the company.

“The methodology of preparing meals isn’t different than any other foodservice establishment,”Mizer said. “But food safety is a very big deal.”

Mizer said produce companies need to do a better job of promoting themselves to customers. He always has an open door, but when salesmen call with a new product and he tells them to stop in, he rarely hears from them again.

“If you have to go to a food show to see a new item, shame on the company who has it,” he said.

As a company, Carnival is more concerned about the value chain. Mizer doesn’t want to buy directly from hundreds of suppliers – he’d rather buy from one supplier that can provide logistics and sourcing for fresh products.

“Logistic success determines the quality success,” he said.

“We need performance. We need to be assured that we get those items when we request them.”