Hello,
Maersk Line together with Institute of Applied Economics and Health Research has looked into Indian banana trade and food waste issues have come up as part of the research.
I would like to share some of the key findings with you:
The proportion of Indian fruits and vegetables estimated to go to waste in India due to the absence of an effective cold chain is 20 – 30%. This amount is equivalent to the total annual consumption of fruit and vegetables in Great Britain
Most food waste in the supply chain comes directly or indirectly from poor temperature control
The main cause of waste in the domestic market is due to a combination of low quality bananas from the farmer, insufficient sorting schemes at the packing stations, insufficient packing technologies, problems and lack of capacity in inland transport and storage
Waste in export (bananas) is lower than in the domestic trade due to efforts made with harvesting, sorting, packing and transport
Even if the domestic market prices in periods are higher than the prices in the export markets, the waste in the domestic markets is so significant that the export is still more profitable
Reduction of the overall waste by improving the cold chain infrastructure is a key to sustainable Indian banana trade
Please find the link to the summary of the case we have put together on: Unlocking the potential of the Indian banana trade. In case of interest of the background report, please let me know.
With best,
Kaisa
Kaisa Tikk
Advisor
Environment & CSR
Maersk Line
Helena Kaisa