Air Cargo Africa 2017 kicks off in Johannesburg on 21 February 2017 with its second shippers’ forum for Flower & Perishables hosted by Saudia Cargo. The panelists were Conrad Archer country MD of Panalpina Airflo Kenya, Jane Ngige CEO of Kenya Flower Council, Sian Roses Group, David Beecham senior manager cargo products of Qatar Airways Cargo, Dirk Hanekom CEO of Agri All Africa, Stanley Winterbach MD Agri All Africa Nigeria and moderated by Joseph Notter VP Operations of Saudia Cargo.
 
The forum was attended by over 90 delegates from the shippers and forwarders community where the focus was on flowers, fruits and vegetables – key export commodities from the African continent, the transportation of which demands specific expertise. The panelist also discussed Perishables shippers require logistics partners that can ensure access to capacity, cool facilities in as many steps of transport as feasible and affordable, and the ability to move goods swiftly and on time. Another growing demand is for end-to-end service.
 
This session put shippers at the heart of the discussion and they voiced their views related to perishables transportation. The forum also discussed how the air freight community and the different stakeholders understand how they can improve the perishables supply chain thus assuring shippers the integrity of their shipments.