Many people have little impression of cold chain transportation, but its actual effect is well-known to most people. Simply put, it is a complete supply chain system with a certain temperature control required.
The system refers to a special supply chain system in which some special products or semi-finished products require time to be in a specific temperature environment during storage, transportation, distribution, and use, in order to reduce losses and avoid degradation and pollution. And today we are going to talk about a link in the cold chain - cold chain transportation.
Cold chain transportation is not limited to transportation methods, it only needs to ensure that the temperature remains constant throughout the entire process. However, controlling the temperature requires moving refrigeration technology and equipment facilities, so it is still quite troublesome. What we want to talk about is the problems encountered and to be solved for different types of goods or categories during the cold chain transportation process.
1、 Product Objects and Their Occupational Categories in Cold Chain Systems
1. Fresh products
For example, fresh vegetables; Fresh fruit; Meat and aquatic products that require freezing; Flower products; Poultry, chicken, duck eggs, etc.
Let's take flowers as an example. The purchase and delivery of fresh flowers have particularly high requirements for their quality and flowering period. Perhaps a slight withering can lead to a direct drop of ten thousand zhang, resulting in a loss.
Of course, this is also related to the imperfect transportation infrastructure in our country, which leads to high transportation costs and will not be used for transportation of flowers. Compared to foreign countries, it can ensure that flowers adhere to cold chain transportation throughout the entire route.
If it is not suitable for cold chain transportation, the impact on the flowering period of flowers is extremely significant. For example, if lilies are shipped out of the warehouse using general logistics, they can only be kept fresh for 5-6 days. However, if cold storage is used for storage, and cold chain transportation can be stored for 7-9 days, the distance is very large.
If one day our country increases investment in the construction of cold chain infrastructure, greatly reducing its costs, the fresh and live products business such as the flower industry may experience a quality upgrade.
2. Processed foods
For example, frozen food; Meat and other cooked foods; Ice cream and dairy products; Fast food materials, etc. They need time to adhere to the appropriate temperature to avoid metamorphosis. These processed foods are prone to metamorphosis when the temperature rises slightly, and also change when the temperature is too low, just like ice cream that melts when it's too hot and chocolate that cracks when it's too cold.
Taking food processing materials such as fast food as an example, the current catering supply chain is moving towards a more complete and cooperative direction, but it is one of the pain points of cold chain transportation.
In China alone, due to the extreme shortage of transportation infrastructure, if we want to completely improve the catering supply chain, without third-party funding, the construction of the transportation system requires catering enterprises and supply chain enterprises to spend a large amount of money and time to build and improve, in order to not only ensure the quality of food ingredients but also ensure rapid supply.
However, due to the high cost, the meal fees in high-quality restaurant management services remain high, and the quality of mid to low priced restaurant products remains to be discussed. There are still many catering enterprises that offer inferior food.
Although it is not only due to a series of reasons such as incomplete supply chain and lack of regulation, the mentality of merchants to be opportunistic and the decline in food quality during transportation account for a large proportion.
3. Pharmaceutical products
There are many drugs and devices that require refrigeration, and they need to adhere to low-temperature conditions for a long time. Otherwise, they may not only transform but also pollute the environment and lose valuable medical resources.
The country has put a lot of effort into the construction of cold chain systems in this area. Although there is still a shortage, there is not a great demand for cold chain from other professions.
Many drugs will change color, taste, and decay at room temperature, so they must be stored in a low-temperature environment. Some drugs can be stored at low temperatures for a long time without decay, greatly extending their shelf life and saving a lot of resources. Similarly, blood, vaccines, and biological reagents all require medical cold storage to ensure their activity.
These refrigerated drugs and blood have little apparent use in the past, just like traditional warehouses, but they are actually classified as a strategic resource, classified as storage resources.
