Steps Must Be Taken to Ensure All Points Are Properly Monitored

When it comes to cold chain management, there is one thing to keep in mind: It is a chain. There are many links in this chain, and issues can happen throughout the way. So, what processors, retailers, foodservice personnel and transportation companies must figure out is how they can all work together to ensure the cold chain for fresh-cut produce is properly maintained – from beginning to end.

“Fresh-cut processors have a brand issue to protect,” said Steve DiRubio, vice president and general manager of the food and international division at Sensitech. “Once the product gets to their (processors’) retail partner or foodservice customer, it may no longer be their responsibility, but the results of cold chain management is their problem.”

Sensitech works with fresh-cut producers to look at the cold chain for their products. The company offers hardware for cold-chain monitoring, software for use with those devices and professional services, which include consulting to make sure the customers understand the data collected.

All of this data is used to help fresh-cut processors determine if breakdowns occur in the cold chain and where those problems happen in order to combat them.

DiRubio said it’s important for fresh-cut processors to partner with their customers so the product reaching the end consumer is as fresh and high quality as possible. Unlike whole produce, fresh-cut produce is brand-based, and companies are going to want to maintain the brand.

“In many ways, fresh-cut companies are in a position to (partner) – and need to – because they have a vested interest to make sure those retailers don’t undo all their work to establish that product,” DiRubio said.

But, before any partnerships are made, the first step is for fresh-cut companies to evaluate their own cold chains.

“First, they have to get their own house in order to demonstrate to themselves and their retail partners that they have exceptional cold chain management – from harvest to the first leg of transportation,” DiRubio said.

When there are issues with the cold chain, DiRubio said they are mostly process problems and not mechanical breakdowns.

“Most of the shrink as a result of temperature abuse doesn’t come about because those systems quit spitting out cold air but because mistakes are made – human error,” DiRubio said. “Process problems – operational errors – are correctable with training and procedures.”

People accidentally leaving doors open or leaving product to sit too long on a pallet are examples. Issues can develoo when settings aren’t right on display cases – especially the mobile units that many retailers put by the cash registers.

“Retail display can be, for fresh-cut products particularly, detrimental,” DiRubio said.

But, he said, the most volatile part of the cold chain remains what he called the supply-chain handoffs. These are the points in the supply chain where product is transferred from one point to another – from processor to warehouse, warehouse to truck and truck to final destination, be it restaurant, institution or retail store. This is where extreme temperatures – outside of the acceptable 33? F to 40? F temperature range for fresh-cut produce – can take place, DiRubio said.

“And anything above 33? to 34?, you’re bleeding your shelf life faster than you want,” he said.

But, when hiring a transportation company, the contracts generally state that temperatures cannot go above 40?.

“If you ship and maintain the product at 34? over a two-day trip, you’re going to get more shelf life – 33? to 34? is materially better from a shelf-life point of view, and the effect of that 5-degree swing is going to be different for melons than it is lettuce,” DiRubio said. “The closer to the ideal, the better with all of these products.”

Transportation

Trucking companies have many ways to work to ensure temperatures are kept at appropriate levels. One would be to work closely with producers to make sure they understand the different temperatures required by different types of fresh-cut product. Another way is to form a working relationship with one trucking company and try not to use someone else to ship the product. Once one company understands the requirements and has training to deal with them, it is easier to make sure all points in the cold chain are kept at an acceptable temperature.

According to Johnson Refrigerated Truck Bodies, trucking is the largest part of the transportation cold chain. And a lot can happen in this segment in cold chain management, said Greg LaFrance, director of sales and marketing for Johnson Refrigerated Truck Bodies.

Like DiRubio, LaFrance suggested a good working relationship between the processing sector and transportation sector.

“It has to do with the temperature of the product when you’re loading – that’s a key element,” LaFrance said. “If you have a standard operating procedure that you need to precool that truck, allow the time to do that.”

Sometimes it can take up to a couple of hours to bring a truck down to the appropriate temperature for transporting fresh-cut products.

“The schedule or the procedures that allow that as a heads-up are critical to the cold chain,” LaFrance said. “You have to make sure the whole process is in place.”

The process includes regular, scheduled maintenance of trucks.

“There’s got to be a lot of preventative maintenance that should be monitored with regard to refrigeration and your refrigerated truck body,” LaFrance said.

For example, he said one way to check the door seals of the truck is with what he called the dollar-bill test. To check the seals, put a dollar bill along the gasket of the door. When pulled on, the dollar bill shouldn’t move.

“You should be able to rip it before you move it,” LaFrance said.

This type of maintenance will ensure the truck is well suited for carrying highly perishable fresh-cut products.

Correcting a Weak Spot

To find out where breakdowns in the cold chain are occurring, DiRubio suggested that fresh-cut processors complete a cold-chain audit. This audit uses technology such as RFID tags or temperature monitors to track temperature throughout the cold chain.

“This is taking, over a period of 30 to 45 days, a snapshot of cold-chain performance,” he said. “You have to have that as a starting point, otherwise it’s more difficult to know where to focus your more intensive action.”

Knowing these weak areas allows a processor to quickly correct any problems, and that type of monitoring in each step of the chain will help make people at every step aware – and accountable – for final quality.

After all, the best cold chain is one where all points understand what is needed and how the product needs to be handled.

“You have a brand image to protect, not only for your customers, but for consumers as well,” DiRubio said.



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