From October 10th to 12th, the city of Genoa, Italy, hosted the 15th edition of Cool Logistics, a conference dedicated to discussing all aspects of the cold chain, perishable cargo transportation, and the refrigerated container transport industry.
The event took place in the Italian city of Genoa because the region’s ports play a vital role in the European cold chain, receiving reefer containers from around the world. Genoa’s reefer terminals connect Italy, southern Europe, and other regions.
This edition featured the participation of Annika Kroon, the Head of the Maritime Transport and Logistics Unit of the European Union, marking the first time the event welcomed a senior representative from the organization.
One of Cool Logistics’ speakers was Andrew Lorimer, the CEO of Datamar, whose presentation delved into the future prospects and priorities for the global cold chain in Latin America. The presentation covered topics such as trends and challenges in maritime freight, the demand for new services and routes connecting South America to Europe, and the demand for South American fruits and meats. Andrew also discussed the post-pandemic market transformation and the outlook for 2024.
According to Datamar’s CEO on Cool Logistics, 78.1% of Brazilian exports in the cold chain industry consist of meats, 9.8% are fruits, and only 0.6% are seafood. Among meats, 50% is poultry, 32% is beef, 11% is pork, and 7% comprises other types of meat.
Argentina (45.8%), Uruguay (57.1%), and Paraguay (87.2%) also rely on meats as their primary export products in reefer containers. In Chile, fruits take the spotlight, accounting for 57.7% of shipments. These statistics are available in Datamar’s market intelligence platform, DataLiner.
Brazilian Fruits in the Spotlight
According to DataLiner data, avocado is the Brazilian fruit with the most significant growth in shipments in 2023. In the first eight months of the year, 1,268 TEUs were shipped abroad, representing a 266.5% increase over the same period in 2022. Europe is the primary destination.
Despite lower volumes, strawberries also saw substantial growth, with a 490.4% increase between January and August 2023 compared to the same months in 2022. The majority of these shipments are bound for Egypt.
In addition to Andrew’s participation in the event, DatamarNews, Datamar’s news website, was one of the event’s media partners.
The 15th edition of Cool Logistics brought together over 40 speakers and professionals from the food, flower, pharmaceutical, fruit, and other temperature-controlled cargo industries. To learn more about the event, visit https://coollogisticsresources.com/15th-cool-logistics-global-2023/
Fun Facts:
History: The 15th edition of Cool Logistics was held in Genoa’s historic Palazzo della Nuova Borsa Valori, located in Piazza De Ferrari, also known as Palazzo della Borsa. It was designed by engineers Dario Carbone and Amedeo Pieragostini and features neo-renaissance architecture with modernist interiors by Adolfo Coppedè. The architecture and decor were designed to highlight Genoa’s financial power in the early twentieth century, as it was Italy’s first stock exchange.
The Genoa Stock Exchange closed its doors on February 28, 1994, due to the digitization of stock exchanges. Following that, the Genoa Chamber of Commerce and the CARIGE Foundation completed restoration work. The Sala delle Grida is currently an exhibition space that can host conferences and exhibitions, while the Sala del Telégrafo works as a restaurant.
Technical Visits: During the event, participants had the opportunity to make technical visits to ports and terminals in the region, including the old port and PSA Genova Pra’ terminal (the leading container terminal in the Port of Genoa, part of the Singapore-based international group PSA International), the Port of Vado Ligure, Vado Gateway (Italy’s first semi-automated terminal), and the Reefer Terminal (the primary fruit terminal in the Mediterranean Sea, mainly managed by APM Terminals)
The next edition of Cool Logistics is slated for September 17 to 19, 2024, in Dunkirk, France.
