Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has received FlowerWatch accreditation for all the fresh flowers it ships from Nairobi to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
FlowerWatch has developed a fail-safe Quality Assurance system that not only identifies challenges in the cold chain, but helps to permanently fix them.
The system’s central concept is ‘time temperature exposure’ measured in degree hours, looking at the average temperature of fresh flowers throughout transportation multiplied by the number of hours.
Eric Mauroux, global head of perishables logistics at Air France KLM Martinair Cargo says the airline is committed to remaining the front-runner in the temperature-sensitive market.
He says: “By continuously improving and investing in our cool chain, we are leading the industry by example, encouraging all actors to comply with food safety requirements, to increase shelf life and improve consumer experience. To support this ambition, we have launched a Cool Chain Programme with the objective of innovating our cool chain by focusing on infrastructure, processes, digital and IT, with dedication and supervision, as well as apron transportation.”
Mauroux adds: “FlowerWatch is an innovative way for us to access our flower flow based on time-temperature exposure throughout the chain. This is another step towards standardisation, which improves the vase life of the flowers we carry out of Kenya*. This accreditation is also a great achievement for all the stakeholders who embarked on this improvement programme with us.”
