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South Africa is the highest consumer of commercial energy per capita in Africa, ranking 16th in the world for primary energy consumption. It is also ranked among the bottom 50 of the 150 countries regarding energy efficiency. The cold chain is a large contributor through refrigerated transport vehicles. To comply with the changing climate regulations, cryogenic and eutectic systems are systems with great potential for small distance refrigerated transport. The purpose of this paper is to introduce eutectic system to medium distance refrigerated transport.

This study presents the potential use of Eutectic plates inside a medium refrigerated transport vehicle, by numerically investigating the characteristics of phase change material eutectic plates applied at low-temperature ranges. A physical model and a mathematical model for three-dimensional transient natural flow were developed as proposed by Xiaofeng and Zhang. Using the governing equation of mass, momentum and energy conservation, three Eutectic plate configurations were modeled and simulated in ANSYS Fluent for 5 h.

A uniform heat transfer and airflow condition inside a refrigerated compartment were predicted using the Reynolds stress model. The configuration with eutectic plates placed at the top and side showed great potential for the system functioning in the South African climate.

Medium refrigerated transport vehicle.

This configuration had a high-temperature distribution across the compartment and promoted high air circulations, showing that it could be ideal for medium refrigerated transport vehicles delivering perishable foodstuffs or non-food goods.

Heat treatment, in view of later knowledge, is seen to have other effects than to destroy or lower the vitality of micro‐organisms initially present; there are the more obvious changes of flavour and of consistency brought about by the partial cooking, but there are also the possible lowering of the vitamin potency and the still more subtle changes in the salts which may, after heat treatment, be rendered less available than in the raw product. The importance of these considerations cannot be too much stressed when it is remembered that heat treatment is, generally speaking, an inherent stage in the process of canning. It is the heat treatment which preserves the goods, the sealing of the can being merely a means of prevent re‐contamination. The chemist, no less than the physiologist, has been much concerned with the changes in foods caused by heat treatment as a method of preservation, and, as a result of his investigation, there is now a better understanding of the changes which take place, with a consequent improvement in the methods of processing. For a number of years, however, this country, in common with many others, has relied, in so far as its supplies of meat are concerned, on products preserved by “cold,” and the freezing of beef, the chilling of mutton, have made available to us the cattle of the Argentine and the sheep of New Zealand. Initially the processes employed were crude, the post‐mortem changes were imperfectly understood, conditions of storage, before, during and after shipment, were haphazard, and the methods of defrosting far from scientific. How far the methods have advanced, and to what extent the scientist has been concerned in the elucidation of the many problems, will be realised from the reports of the Food Investigation Board. It is not suggested that all the advance is due to the work of the Low Temperature Station a Cambridge—much has been done in other countries‐but the investigations carried out by the scientists a this station have been fundamental. Food producers in America were the first to realise the importance of the latest development in freezing, the advent of the “ Quick Freezing Processes ” marking a distinct advance in technique. When cellular tissue is normally frozen and subsequently defrosted, rupture of the cells may have occurred and the structure of the substance consequently partially broken down. When, however, the tissue is quickly brought down to a very low temperature, it is found that in many cases this breakdown in tissue does not take place. These principles have been applied to commercial installations, and fish, meat, fruit and vegetables so treated show on defrosting remarkably little change in character. Preservation by desiccation is a method employed for certain materials with great success. Sun‐drying of fruits (sultanas and dates, to quote but two) and the sun‐drying of cereal products such as macaroni is still practised. An important industry concerned with the drying of milk has developed in most milk‐producing countries, whilst dried eggs and dried egg‐albumin form important items of commerce. It is obvious that the object of concentrating such substances as fruit juices, milk and vegetables and animal liquid extracts is ideally to reduce the water content and obtain a product which, when the water is ultimately restored, gives a solution or material having the original taste, aroma and food value. The effect of heat is often, however, to change these characteristics, and although by the use of a vacuum the temperature to which the substance is submitted is lowered, changes still take place, and much of the aroma depending on volatile constituents is lost. To a very great extent this has been overcome by a method of desiccation which is essentially partial freezing, a method which has not yet received much publicity as it has only lately emerged from the experimental stage. The practical application of this principle is due to Dr. G. A. Krause, of Munich, who has invented and designed a dual process of concentration. In this process the liquid is first concentrated by freezing out water as ice, which is removed by mechanical separation in a centrifuge. By ingenious mechanical and regenerative devices this process has been made extremely efficient, the losses being only 1–2 per cent. of the original juice, although the efficiency is not maintained when the solids‐content of the product has been raised to 40–50 per cent. This liquid is then further concentrated by evaporation at a low temperature, about 10°–15° C. The differential evaporation of water as compared with the aromatic flavour constituents occurs because the removal of water as vapour at this temperature depends solely on the rate of diffusion of the molecules into the gas space. As water has a small molecule compared with the large molecules of the esters, ethers and alcohols of the flavouring substances, it escapes more readily ; the conditions of evaporation as given in the patent are all designed to aid this escape. A reduction in pressure may be used to speed up the process without interfering with the differential diffusion, and the provision of an atmosphere of small molecules (e.g., hydrogen) also has the same effect. A large surface for the evaporation is made by spreading the liquid as a thin continuously renewed film. The condenser is situated very near the evaporating liquid to remove the water molecules quickly (a distance of 3 cm. is the maximum diffusion path). The atmosphere may be circulated or disturbed to hasten the diffusion and, most ingenious of all, it may be blown towards the evaporating liquid when, if a velocity is used just greater than that of the heavy molecules leaving a liquid surface, the loss of flavour may be entirely eliminated while the rate of water evaporation is only reduced by 10 per cent. By these means a concentrate containing as much as 65 per cent. solids and capable of storage without deterioration at ordinary temperatures may be prepared, and 80 per cent. of the original vitamins retained. The use of refrigeration in the preservation of food has necessitated the use of refrigerated transport to complete the links between producer, manufacturer, retailer and customer. The variety of commodities and the different conditions they need create varying demands on the methods of insulating and refrigerating transport vehicles. The British railways have 4,000 refrigerated railway vans, and such vans, containing perishable produce, came regularly to England from Austria and Italy by way of the train ferries. These vans are designed for fairly high temperatures, 35–40° F., and long hauls, and use ice as a refrigerant. At the other end of the scale is the road vehicle, which may have a temperature as low as 0° F., but is only on its journey about 12 hours. It is in these road vehicles that the greatest advances have been made, for conditions in England do not justify the railways in expenditure on elaborate equipment. The early road vehicles were insulated boxes on a lorry chassis and were refrigerated by ice and salt, which was “messy” and caused bad corrosion of the chassis. The introduction of an eutectic solution, virtually a mixture of a freezing salt and water in a definite proportion, which was frozen as a whole in a sealed tank, was made some few years ago. This removed the “messiness,” conserved the salt and produced greater efficiency and a more stable temperature.

This study explores the factors that impact the quality of fresh produce in the transportation phase of the supply chain and the mitigation framework for improving the quality to curb the losses.

This study aimed for an exploratory analysis using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Using a questionnaire with responses from 172 transporters from the Uttar Pradesh region, India, primary data were gathered through a survey. Factors were identified using factor analysis and mitigation strategies were suggested for the factors through semi-structured interviews with six experts in transportation, agribusiness and food supply chain.

Four factors that impact the quality were identified based on the factor analysis, namely operational issues, poor preservation, lack of ease of in-transit and poor infrastructure. The operational issue was found to be the main factor influencing the quality of fresh produce. The study also proposed the mitigation framework for the factors based on the interview results.

The present study is confined to the fresh produce supply chain transportation process, particularly fruits with an emphasis on the Uttar Pradesh region, India.

There is a lack of literature on implying mitigation strategies for factors affecting fresh produce quality in the transport process in India. Thus, this study attempts to fulfill this gap and has added to the food supply chain literature that could help scholars and practitioners in improving the food supply chain in developing economies.

The objective of this paper is to contribute to Australian berry supply chains with a relevant identification regarding the possible data driven interventions that stakeholders can take while the berries are in transit.

An exploratory series of semi-structured interviews was conducted through six Australian experts in the industry with more than 20 years of experience in Australian berry supply chains and the Australian perishable food industry, to identify key possible in-transit interventions that could be implemented in the Australian berry industry.

The analysis of the interviews revealed a total of 18 possible in-transit interventions. An important finding is that in-transit interventions are made possible by the use of real-time data gathered through IoT devices such as Active Radio Frequency Identification, Time and Temperature Indicators interacting with Wireless Sensor Networks. Another key finding is that Australian berry growers and retailers do possess the technologies and the resources necessary to make in-transit interventions possible, however they have yet applied these technologies to operational decision-making and interventions based on the product, rather focussing on supply chain transactions and events.

Since the research focusses on an Australian context, its findings may or may not be applicable to other countries. The research is exploratory in nature, and its findings should be verified by future research, in particular to test whether the in-transit interventions proposed here can be implemented in a cost-efficient way.

To the authors' knowledge, this publication is the first known academic article to provide a clear understanding of the Australian berry industry from a supply chain and logistics perspective, and the first to explore possible data driven in-transit interventions in perishable food supply chains.

In an effort to hold down costs in temperature controlled storage and transportation, developments in recent years have encompassed building and equipment as well as the advantages of computerised systems. The following article describes the physical structural demands of cold stores and equipment, and goes on to look at a company who have cut costs and increased efficiency with the introduction of a computer aided system at one of their latest cold stores.

Discusses the approach to retailing taken by J. Sainsbury plc. Notes the importance of taking into account factors such as changes in consumer attitudes and demographic changes. Provides details of systems used by J. Sainsbury to reduce checkout queues and improve ordering, delivery and shelving of goods. Mentions the importance of Sainsbury own‐brand products and the role of guaranteeing quality in retaining customer loyalty. Examines logistical factors related to efficient ordering of goods. Finally, looks towards the future for retailing and stresses the importance of retailers understanding the needs of customers in terms of both goods and services.

On every side voices are raised against the growing use of chemical additives in food; the possible hazards to health; the inadequacy of present methods of control and of stemming the rate at which the practice is growing. Not unexpectedly at the season of annual conferences, with its crop of wildish statements and scare headlines, attention appears to be focussed upon the problem as if it were something new. These platform heroics not‐withstanding, it is indeed a difficult and growing problem. Not by any means a new one, however, for additives have been used in food preparation for many years, but before the first War they were mainly natural products; large‐scale food processing had yet to come. Now synthetic products have replaced the natural and possible ill‐effects are engaging world interest.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the interaction among some of the major barriers that may hinder the implementation of third-party logistics (TPL) in manufacturing industries.

This paper uses an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) methodology to analyze the interactions among the barriers.

It is beneficial for the management of any firm to be aware of significant barriers and to diagnose those that could be integral to the organization's future survival. Many works have focused on identifying barriers for TPL implementation, but a model for such barriers is lacking. This paper attempts to develop a model for the barriers using an ISM methodology and analyzes the mutual interactions among the barriers. The model differentiates between the barriers so that driving barriers, which can intensify other barriers, and dependent barriers are identified separately.

In this research, eight barriers are considered. Interactions between the barriers are evaluated with the help of the ISM matrix. Of the eight barriers, three barriers, including the lack of application and knowledge of advanced information technology, congested roadways and ports, and fear of employees of the firm, demonstrate both strong driving power and strong dependence power, as illustrated in the MICMAC analysis.

In difficult geographical zones (mountain, intra-cities areas, etc.), many shippers, from small and medium enterprises to individuals, may demand delivery of different food products (fresh, refrigerated, frozen, etc.) in small quantities. On the other side, carrier companies wish to use their vehicles optimally. Taking into account the perishability constraints (short-shelflife, temperature limits, etc.) of the transported food products and environmental constraints (pollution, carbon impact) while consolidating multiple kinds of food products to use vehicles optimally is not achieved by current transportation planning solutions. The purpose of this paper is to present an interoperable solution of a marketplace, formed by shippers and carriers, dedicated to the schedule of food transport orders.

This transportation planning system named Interoperable-Pathfinder, Order, Vehicle, Environment and Supervisor (I-POVES) is an interoperable multi-agent system, based on the SCEP (supervisor, customer, environment and producer) model (Archimede and Coudert, 2001). Ontologies are developed to create the planning marketplace comprising demands and offers from different sources (multiple shippers and carriers).

A hierarchy ontology for food products. A transporter system ontology. A global ontology that contains all shared concepts used by local ontologies of both shippers and carriers. I-POVES an interoperable model, which facilitates collaboration between carriers and their shippers through its active agents.

I-POVES is tested on a case study from the TECCAS Poctefa project, comprising transport and food companies from both sides of the Pyrenees (France and Spain).

There has been much work in the literature on the delivery of products, but very few on the delivery of food products. Work related to delivery of food products focuses mostly on timely delivery for avoiding its wastage. In this paper, constraints related to food products and to environment (pollution and carbon impact) of transport resources are taken into account while planning the delivery.

Describes a study to measure the quality of service provided by food‐poisoning surveillance agencies in England and Wales in terms of the requirements of a representative consumer ‐ the egg producing industry ‐ adopting “egg associated” outbreak investigation reports as the reference output. Defines and makes use of four primary performance indicators: accessibility of information; completeness of evidence supplied in food‐poisoning outbreak investigation reports as to the sources of infection in “egg‐associated” outbreaks; timeliness of information published; and utility of information and advice aimed at preventing or controlling food poisoning. Finds that quality expectations in each parameter measured are not met. Examines reasons why surveillance agencies have not delivered the quality demanded. Makes use of detailed case studies to illustrate inadequacies of current practice. Attributes failure to deliver “accessibility” to a lack of recognition on the status or nature of “consumers”, combined with a self‐maintenance motivation of the part of the surveillance agencies. Finds that failures to deliver “completeness” and “utility” may result from the same defects which give rise to the lack of “accessibility” in that, failing to recognize the consumers of a public service for what they are, the agencies feel no need to provide them with the data they require. The research indicates that self‐maintenance by scientific epidemiologists may introduce biases which when combined with a politically inspired need to transfer responsibility for food‐poisoning outbreaks, skew the conduct of investigations and their conclusions. Contends that this is compounded by serious and multiple inadequacies in the conduct of investigations, arising at least in part from the lack of training and relative inexperience of investigators, the whole conditioned by interdisciplinary rivalry between the professional groups staffing the different agencies. Finds that in addition failures to exploit or develop epidemiological technologies has affected the ability of investigators to resolve the uncertainties identified. Makes recommendations directed at improving the performance of the surveillance agencies which, if adopted will substantially enhance food poisoning control efforts.