(AOSIS Publishing, 2013-11) Freiboth, Heinrich W.; Goedhals-Gerber, Leila L.; Van Dyk, F. Esbeth; Dodd, Malcolm C.
There is concern in the South African fruit industry that a large amount of fruit and money
is lost every season due to breaks in the fruit export cold chain. The possibility of a large
percentage of losses in a significant sector of the economy warranted further investigation.
This article attempted to highlight some of the possible problem areas in the cold chain,
from the cold store to the port, by analysing historic temperature data from different fruit
export supply chains of apples, pears and grapes. In addition, a trial shipment of apples was
used to investigate temperature variation between different pallets in the same container.
This research has added value to the South African fruit industry by identifying the need to
improve operational procedures in the cold chain.