Chain of events: a blog of Food Chain Intelligence

I read with interest a note from Professor Joe Lederman, Principal of FoodLegal and Professor at Deakin University, published in Australian Food News today. Prof Lederman has raised an important issue: the readiness of our food chains in a pandemic scenario. I wholeheartedly agree with his views: in my submission to the National Innovation Review, I raised the need to look at pandemic scenarios and contingency planning as research subjects in future R&D related to food chains.

The topic of the influenza contagion in Mexico is close to my heart. My family and I had never seen any radical measures to avoid contagion such as having soccer matches at closed doors and cancelling religious activities in a Sunday. For the average Mexican, the idea of not socializing is almost unfathomable. Yet, that is what my family and friends are currently experiencing, particularly in Mexico City.

Prof Lederman’s views led me to drop my concerns about my loved ones for a while and consider the food supply chain in Mexico. One point of concern, for example, is that food chains in Mexico are highly centralized around urban markets, especially in Mexico City. For example, Central de Abastos is the largest market in Mexico and it is located in what used to be the outskirts of the city. Now it is close to the centre of it. I will post a picture tomorrow because I think you have to see the size of. It helps to understand how a single market was able to hold about 40 % of all fruits and vegetables consumed in Mexico, and 80 % of those consumed in Mexico City by 2001. Take into consideration that Mexico’s population is nearly 110 million and 22 million live in Mexico City.

Now, considering that the focal point of the contagion is in Mexico City, What are the alternatives for assuring a viable food distribution in Mexico now?

Points of consideration are:
• About 80% of the population is concentrated in urban areas.
• The distance between Mexico City and the other major cities (Monterrey and Guadalajara) is 1,000 km and 500 km, respectively.
• About 90% of food reaches consumers through retail. This includes major supermarkets, warehouses and the independent segment, which distributes about 60-65% of food. It also includes the mom & pop’s shop operations, which are very much alive and kicking in Mexico.
• The foodservice sector is growing at a fast pace; eating food in restaurants and street stalls is a daily occurrence for the average Mexican.
• There is a substantial underinvestment in transport infrastructure: roads, rail and ports are insufficient as it is to distribute food efficiently. But if we had to choose one mode, it would be road.

My initial thoughts are:

a) Relocate some Central de Abastos operations to areas surrounding Mexico City. This is a good alternative for small, nimble operators but the limits on infrastructure available (e.g. storage) would not allow this to be a solution for large distribution companies.
b) Shift the distribution to the larger cities away from Mexico City. Given road transport as a viable option, it would take 10 hrs for a shipment to travel from Monterrey to MC and4- 5 hrs from Guadalajara (the Guadalajara- Mexico segment has better road conditions). So it sounds like Guadalajara would be a good options for this.
c) For dry/canned goods, keep Central de Abastos as the main DC.
d) For administrative functions in the food supply chain, promote the option of working from home.
e) For the unavoidable physical activity needed, implement shifts that see a lower concentration of people in the workplace.
f) Supermarkets could implement vehicles (e.g. vans, minivans) as shop fronts. The strategy here is to bring the goods to the population, rather than people travelling to supermarkets for shopping. A particularly good option for less mobile population.
There will be a second update to this blog tomorrow. But please feel free to contribute to this discussion further.

According to the Food and Drink Federation, consumers in the UK are turning to frozen foods to minimise waste, shop with less frequency and save money in the downturn. Interestingly, consumers are also changing their views about the quality of frozen foods: about 75% of consumers believe that it is better than it used to be (before the downturn??). These consumer trends have been reflected in an increase in frozen food sales of almost 6% in 2008 with respect to sales figures in 2007.

In the US, sales for frozen foods are set to increase by 25 % by 2013, even in a scenario of economic recovery.

The perception of frozen foods as of inferior quality to fresh foods has been challenged before, on the basis of the handling of fresh and frozen products during the supply chain.

The quality of both frozen and chilled products depends on the level of service that each player in the chain –from growers through to manufacturers to retailers–provides for that product. For temperature-sensitive products, quality is a function of time and temperature. In an ideal supply chain, frozen or chilled products are:

• Processed under the right manufacturing conditions
• Maintained in an unbroken cold chain
• Stored in an effective domestic refrigerator at home
• Defrosted correctly and within it shelf-life date

In real supply chains, there are several reasons why a cold chain can be broken. A broken cold chain often affects the quality of frozen or fresh goods and the severity of the damages depends on the occurrence and length of temperature abuse scenarios. In some cases, a badly managed ‘fresh’ supply chain can lower the quality of fresh foods below the quality of their frozen counterparts. There are studies that show this:

• A study compared the content of vitamin C in frozen vegetables at various stages of distribution and storage . The authors found that the vitamin C contents of broccoli and frozen peas was similar to that of the typical market-purchased vegetable and superior to peas that have been stored at home for several days (see Clinton, S.K., 1998. Lycopene: chemistry, biology, and implications for human disease. Nutrition Reviews 56, 35–51).

• A second study investigated the carotenoid content of fresh, commercially canned and frozen samples of two corn cultivars from the same production field. The results showed that the carotenoid levels were similar in frozen and fresh versions (see Scott, C. E. and Eldridge, A. L. 2005, “Comparison of carotenoid content in fresh, frozen and canned corn”, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Vol. 18 No. 6, pp. 551-559). Carotenoids have antioxidant properties and some researchers have linked carotenoids with reduced chronic disease risks.

However, frozen foods are still perishable products. Thermodynamics dictate that full freezing of the entire water content of a food can only be reached at temperatures between –31 °C and –85 °C. These temperatures are considerably colder than the typical operating temperatures of frozen food chains (typically around –18 °C to –23 °C). Therefore, frozen foods will normally contain an unfrozen water fraction, highly viscous and rich in enzymes and other temperature-sensitive components, which are still susceptible to deterioration.

Unpleasant smells, stained packaging or large ice crystals around the product after transport are all tale-tell signs of a disrupted cold chain during the transport of frozen products. Quality changes in frozen products may appear during distribution include:

(a) Partial melting of ice crystals and moisture migration within the product due to temperature fluctuations during transport. A growth of larger ice crystals at the expense of smaller ones, a change in shape , and changes of crystal orientation may also be present.

(b) Formation of ice or frost on the surface of packages and/or pallets due to: (i) entry of warm, moist air to the cargo space (either during the loading of the transport, during door openings or through the door seals of the insulated body) and (ii) migration of vapour from the product to the internal surface of the package.

Some physical issues are:

(a) Mechanical damage due to acceleration effects, motion of the transport system, vibration and vertical impacts during accidental falls, collapsing of the package or pallet and rough handling during loading and unloading.

(b) Contamination of the frozen cargo due to the use of the same transport to carry substances incompatible with the present cargo, the presence of residues and odours from previous cargoes, the use of cleaning agents or pesticides, unsuitable or contaminated dunnage and securing materials or materials used in the construction of the transport.

Various anecdotes exist of frozen cargo that was unloaded and left at ambient temperature during long periods of time (sometimes overnight), waiting to be loaded into the next transport. Cases of poor cold chain management include insufficient pre-cooling of trucks and lack of air distribution systems (e.g. ceiling ducts and floor channels) resulting in excessive warming of the products. The most expensive blunders seem to arise from human errors and congestion of appropriate facilities in the logistics operations.

To keep the sales momentum up, consumers need to be reassured that their perceptions of quality and waste avoidance in frozen foods are right. Thus, manufacturers and logistics providers should put particular attention to their distribution systems and apply the same principles of good cold chain management than those for chilled goods. My recommendations? Know your product (e.g. optimum ‘best by’ date, optimum temperature) and know the weaknesses of the storage, transport and distribution channels used for the product.