A ripening approach

A ripening approach Maersk says its controlled atmosphere containers grow global market for bananas and other fruit.

By Chris Dupin

      Maersk Line said it has developed refrigerated container technology that 'opens up new markets for faraway exporters, and provides consumers all over the world with fresh fruit products.'
      At the end of April, a Maersk Line container vessel carrying a trial shipment of several containers of bananas from Davao, Philippines, arrived in Rotterdam, Netherlands, after a 34-day voyage.
      'Imported bananas are nothing out of the ordinary in Europe, but arriving from a destination as far as the Philippines is extraordinary,' Maersk said.
      Maersk said it was able to overcome the transit time through use of controlled atmosphere technology. Its 'StarCare' specialized reefer uses a passive controlled atmosphere system 'in which the fruit itself creates the desired environment.' Maersk said the system can keep bananas fresh for up to 50 days.
      Bananas have been subjected to a strict schedule for the fruit to be sold, said John Hyatt, a vice president at the customs broker Irwin Brown in New Orleans. Bananas must be harvested, 'dehanded' where the stems are cut into bunches, washed, boxed, loaded, shipped, ripened, trucked to final destination and sold within a five- to eight-day window.
      'If someone can figure out a way to control the atmosphere ' to extend that to 50 days that is an accomplishment,' Hyatt said.
      Maersk explains that through natural respiration from the fruit, oxygen levels are reduced and carbon dioxide increases, contributing to lower respiration by the fruit and suppressing the release of ethylene (which causes fruit to ripen and mold).
      Optimal gas levels are controlled in the container through the use of sensors, gas permeable membranes, and fresh air intake. If carbon dioxide levels exceed their optimal threshold, the membrane will be activated and start to permeate carbon dioxide away from the cargo space. If oxygen levels drop below the set point, the fresh air intake will automatically open up, to let in ambient air.
      'Maersk Line can now offer access to almost any market place globally through the use of StarCare, in affordable shipment sizes down to 20 pallets; subsequently Maersk Line is being an active and innovative part of creating new opportunities for our clients in the single largest perishable commodity segment in the world, the banana,' said Kim Aksel Kristensen, director at Maersk's reefer department.
      The company has shipped bananas from Ecuador and other Central and South America origins to Los Angeles using the StarCare boxes, said Mary Ann Kotlarich, a Maersk spokesperson.
      Thomas Eskesen, senior director of Maersk's refrigerated cargo business, said the technology was being used by several multinationals already. 'The final design was tested with many of the industry leaders,' he said.
      'The main target group is longer distances and clients who may need flexibility in sourcing as well as destination patterns. As example with StarCare one can divert from an original plan of say 22 days transit time and cater to a market in a different location if there is a specific need, even if it puts on another 10-15 days,' he said.

'Our primary business is to facilitate global trade and create new opportunities. We believe the key is flexibility and adaptability as the world is changing so rapidly'

Thomas Eskesen senior director, refrigerated cargo, Maersk

      Over the long term, Eskesen said, 'many clients are concerned about shortage of fruit so it will be important to have sourcing alternatives.' Both India and the Philippines, for example, are potential growers and exporters.
      James Wiley, author of the book The Banana: Empires, Trade Wars and Globalization, told American Shipper that while he was not a technology expert, the impact of the new development in Europe would be dependent on several factors. These include the cost of transport from the Far East compared to Central America or Colombia and Ecuador.
      'Bananas are a relatively cheap fruit for consumers, so even a relatively small increase in transport costs could render Filipino bananas uncompetitive in Europe,' he said.
      There are exporters to the European Union that 'already have relationships with ripening facilities and retail chains in Europe. Some of these relationships are of relatively longstanding and could prove difficult to break into, as is the case with Caribbean exporters who would like to export bananas to the USA, whose market is tied up by the big three U.S.-based multinational corporations,' Wiley said. The big three producers and marketers of bananas are Dole Food Co., Chiquita Brands International and Fresh Del Monte Produce.
      On the other hand, Wiley said, factors that could make Filipino exports to Europe attractive include lower labor costs and that since trade preferences ended in 2006, new entrants 'don't have to fight quotas, as a result of the long and complex banana case in the World Trade Organization that was the primary subject of my book.'
      The ability to transport bananas reliably and affordably for up to 45 days translates into a world of new markets for exporters in several countries.
      Maersk said the new containers enable shippers to move small volumes. 'Exporters in Ecuador can now ship to the Middle East, Japan, China, Russia and the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and New Zealand. Costa Rican exporters now have access to valuable markets in Russia and the East Coast of South America. And banana producers in the Philippines are now able to export their produce to the Middle East, while African exporters can now ship to the Mediterranean Sea and to northern Europe,' the company said.
      'In a growing and up-and-coming market, small quantities are often the way to build up a cargo base, which eventually may lead to enough scale to do a direct product. From the Philippines we already offer direct products for bananas to China and Korea, for example,' Eskesen said.
      'The banana market represents over 20 percent of the world's ocean-borne reefer market, so there are plenty of immediate opportunities and many different players,'
he said. 'Our primary business is to facilitate global trade and create new opportunities. We believe the key is flexibility and adaptability as the world is changing so rapidly.'
      Many of the large banana companies have their own proprietary fleets that call at a limited number of U.S. ports.
      'What is the right vessel size today may not be right tomorrow, so to invest in tonnage specifically for a niche market over a 15-year period is a much different decision than it used to be,' Eskesen said.
      Hyatt noted that such technology might allow banana shippers to take advantage of more economic 'slow steaming' ship speeds.
      Use of the StarCare reefer would allow banana shippers to send fruit closer to the end user, not funnel all of its fruit through just a few ports or to transship fruit. For example, the bananas that Maersk moved from the Philippines to Europe were transshipped through Maersk's big hub in Malaysia, Tanjung Pelepas.
      'The key is reliability and predictability. Transshipment offers access to multiple markets whereas a direct product may restrict distribution and market access,' Eskesen said.