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Fresh blueberries are a summertime treat enjoyed by many Canadians. But the seasonal fruit is also fast becoming an in-demand delicacy overseas, and transporting these highly perishable goods to China, for example, is no small feat, notes the CEO of a leading Canadian shipper of fresh produce.
"We can receive cargo at five in the morning and have it to the airport by eight, and by noon it's on a flight to Shanghai, Beijing or Hong Kong, [which] takes about 12 hours," says Brendan Harnett, CEO and chairman of Flying Fresh Air Freight. "It's a complex process because you've got so many requirements, including food safety and documentation that can be very detailed."
Yet, airfreighting perishables is well worth the effort. Transporting fruits, vegetables, flowers, meat and even live seafood is a growing market, says Harnett.
With annual revenues of about $35-million, the Vancouver-based company reports that it ships roughly 16 million kilograms of live and fresh perishables by air every year. As business expands, a key partner for Flying Fresh has been Air Canada Cargo, which, Harnett points out, is handling at least 50 per cent of his company's freight volume.
"We deal with a lot of airlines, but Air Canada has the largest footprint in Canada as a national carrier with service links around the world, so it is basically our largest provider by far," he explains.
Cargo volume for the airline's freight division grew by 40 per cent last year, with about 70 per cent of that capacity earmarked for perishables, says Rene Rojas, Air Canada Cargo's general manager of cargo sales and services for South America, Mexico and the Caribbean.
The lion's share of that business is serving the growing domestic market. According to Nielsen MarketTrack, which monitors marketing and sales trends, fruit and vegetable sales in Canada totalled more than $10.7-billion in 2016. In particular, Latin America has emerged as a driver of growth, in part due to produce such as avocados, limes and asparagus, all three of which appear on Nielsen MarketTrack's lists of fastest-growing fruits and vegetables by volume sales. Air Canada Cargo transports 24 million kilograms annually out of Latin America alone, of which 60 per cent is perishable.
Rojas notes that the surge in volume of fresh produce into Canada from South America, Mexico and the Caribbean has led Air Canada to increase its freight capacity by 50 per cent in recent years. In fact, the airline's introduction of direct flights to Canada from the region has created faster, more efficient ways for berries and mangoes to end up on the dinner tables of Canadians.
"Five years ago the logistics for perishables coming from Latin America to Canada would come through Miami, for example," Rojas says. "From there, [perishables] would be trucked north and could take two to four days, which decreases the shelf life of the product."
Today, asparagus flown out of Lima, Peru, could be on your dinner table within 48 hours. Unsurprisingly, air freight has become an increasingly attractive service for grocers and other companies in the food industry.
Although overall freight growth is actually about 6 per cent per year, the larger leap in volume for Air Canada Cargo last year is the result of the airline's expanding capacity, with new Boeing 787 Dreamliners able to address demand that the airline had previously been unable to serve.
Freight is kept in the belly of 787s, which are passenger aircraft. These planes are also able to carry more freight with less fuel over longer distances.
As well, Air Canada Cargo has developed processes to make sure perishables are stored throughout the flight in a climate-controlled environment that includes thermal blankets to protect shipments from heat and cold. And at major Canadian airports, the airline also maintains hundreds of square feet of space with coolers.
"The market growth potential is huge because the demand is so high for perishables," Rojas says. "We are an international airline that flies to a lot of places and that makes us attractive."
This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's Globe Edge Content Studio. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.