Cold chain to play pivotal role in establishing food security in India

We will be at the forefront of defining the next era of the healthy, safe, sustainable and intelligent cold chain.

The pandemic has reminded us of how critical supply chain and logistics are at the foundational level. Will the cold chain continue to be a vibrant sector? Pankaj Mehta Managing Director, Carrier Transicold India talks about the need for a connected cold chain has never been greater since it plays a pivotal role in the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines as well as food distribution. The pharmaceuticals industry has been one of the fastest adapters of the cold chain in recent years. 

Carrier Transicold products have played an important role during this global pandemic to help ensure critical Covid vaccines and pharmaceutical products reach their destination in the best condition. Our truck refrigeration solutions have aided interstate and local vaccine distribution efforts across India. 

The pandemic has brought renewed focus on the cold chain sector and Carrier Transicold will assist in bridging the cold chain gaps in the country. 

Investments in the retail food sector triggered a comeback in cold chain warehousing. How do you see Carrier’s role in cold chain making in the future? 

The Indian cold chain is still at a nascent stage. Investment in the cold chain remains one of the most effective ways to ensure the reliable and safe movement of food and pharmaceutical products during a pandemic, and in adapting to a post-pandemic world. 

We live in a world where on one hand one third of the food produced is lost or wasted, and on the other hand one in nine people in the world go to bed hungry. 

India is the world leading producer of several agri- products, but we also have high wastage. The cold chain will play a pivotal role in establishing food security in India and around the world, while opening a plethora of opportunities to farmers and various stakeholders in the agriculture value chain. 

Carrier operates at the nexus of climate, digital and environmental technology and sustainability – and we will be at the forefront of defining the next era of the healthy, safe, sustainable and intelligent cold chain. 

How has been your business and what factors do you think has been contributing to your growth? 

The Indian cold chain landscape is witnessing a significant paradigm shift as the government has unveiled various measures to bridge the cold chain gap in the country. The two main sectors where the cold chain can play a pivotal role are pharmaceuticals and agriculture. 

The cold chain ecosystem has steadily grown over the past few years as a result of increased focus from the Indian government and industry. The organised retail sector, online grocery stores, quick service restaurant chains, as well as government initiatives will drive cold chain growth. Cold chain acceptance has also trickled down to tier-two and tierthree towns and cities which will further bolster growth. 

Carrier has been working with various stakeholders in the cold chain and educating them on the benefits. To clear the perception that the cold chain is complicated and too expensive for smallholder farms, we recently conducted a demonstration on the impact of the cold chain on the Kinnow fruit from Punjab to Bangalore. 

The study demonstrated that investment in refrigeration pre-cooling equipment and refrigerated trucks can reduce food loss by 76% while increasing profit margins up to 23%. The cold chain will play a pivotal role in establishing food security in India, thus opening a plethora of opportunities to farmers and various stakeholders in the agriculture value chain. 

Elaborating on the current vaccine cold chain infrastructure, what have been efforts towards conducting the vaccination drive effectively across India? 

For several years, India has been administering one of the world’s largest Universal Immunisation Programme for pregnant women and children and has a robust immunisation architecture and foundational cold chain network in place. The pandemic is also an opportunity to augment cold chain infrastructure across the country due to the additional demand and the sheer scale of the program. 

Carrier Transicold products have played an important role during this global health crisis to help ensure critical Covid vaccines and pharmaceutical products reach their location in the best condition. Our truck refrigeration solutions have aided interstate and local vaccine distribution across India from vaccine production centres to distribution points in tier-two and tier-three cities and towns. 

Established more than 25 years ago in India, Carrier Transicold is well positioned to understand segment needs and meet requirements with technologically superior refrigeration products. 

We believe that continuous improvement and collaboration among various industry stakeholders are necessary to successfully implement the COVID-19 vaccination drive across the country. 

With the overall objective of shared value chain capabilities, what advanced solutions are available at your end to boost preservation? 

The need for safe and sustainable cold chain technologies to preserve and protect the supply of food, medicine and vaccines around the world has never been greater. 

In support of this critical need, Carrier launched the Healthy, Safe, Sustainable Cold Chain Program – designed to help customers meet rapidly evolving supply chain demands and make their cold chain activities more effective. 

Over the past few years, Carrier Transicold has launched several India Specific product extensions in the Supra® and Oasis® offerings for large trucks. The units are designed to provide strong, reliable performance in hot, dusty ambient conditions and offer superior pull down and cooling efficiency. 

For last mile distribution using refrigerated small vans, Carrier Transicold introduced several models of the Citimax™ series for chilled and frozen applications. The streamlined design has very few serviceable parts helping to reduce repair and maintenance, resulting in low overall operating costs. 

IoT also plays an important role in providing end-to-end visibility within the cold chain ecosystem. Data transparency and traceability ensures product quality and process efficiency. 

Carrier’s Lynx™ Fleet digital solutions empower our customers to remotely monitor and control refrigeration units and help track their consignments with a strict watch over temperature integrity. 

The cold chain will play a pivotal role in establishing food security in India and around the world, while opening a plethora of opportunities to farmers and various stakeholders in the agriculture value chain. 

Looking at future demand that is coming up into multiplying cold chain infrastructure, can you talk about future plans? 

Carrier’s industry-leading technologies, products, solutions and services support a healthy, safe, sustainable and intelligent cold chain at a time when it is needed most. 

Carrier Transicold continuously works with its stakeholders to understand the evolving segment requirements and introduce solutions to meet them. Our strength lies in adapting products to suit Indian conditions, engineering them as per requirement and supporting them through our after-sales team. 

With critical products continually on the move, Carrier transicold dealers, strategically positioned on national highways offer 24/7 support to customer fleets across a pan-India network of more than 65 service centres to keep the trucks running on the road. We continue to be the preferred suppliers of truck refrigeration systems due to a large and reliable service network as well as an experienced and customer-focused team. Carrier Transicold India is a part of the CII Task Force on Cold Chain Development as well as a life member of the National Centre for Cold Chain Development and continues to undertake initiatives to establish a robust cold chain in India. 

Carrier also supports cold chain growth through industry collaboration, education and training and is part of the steering committee of the National Cold Chain Logistics Resource Centre which aims to improve development of all cold chain aspects. We welcome and support the initiatives taken by the government to proliferate the cold chain in India. In conclusion, Carrier continues to innovate by introducing products that reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency, while maintaining the reliability it has been lauded for more than 50 years.