Lufthansa Cargo commits to freshness from ‘Farm to Fork’

Appearance, taste and texture, all of these aspects have to be right in order to sell the vegetables. They are a classic air freight product.

A predominant challenge for farming in Kenya is seasonality. Thanks to the constant mild climate the farms can grow vegetables all year round! When it is summer in Europe, however, the demand for imported vegetables declines. In Naivasha, for instance, plantation is done 40 percent less during this period, said Gareth Wilkie, general manager of Vegpro Food Farms, one of the largest vegetable producers and exporters in Kenya. At this phase, the soil recovers and Vegpro finds time to carry out extensive maintenance work. As a rule, vegetables in Naivasha require a growing time of about three months until they are harvested.

Gorge Farm, the company’s largest farm with more than 1,200 employees is also one of the biggest in Kenya. Vegpro operates six of its own farms but also manages approximately 1,700 smallholder farms.

The 350-hectare site, located in southwest of Kenya, and only 100 kilometres from the airfreight hub Nairobi — grows vegetables like broccoli, spring onions, asparagus, cauliflower, courgette and beans.

Traffic jams are a serious problem in the fresh food business causing hour-long delays, especially in the direct catchment area of Nairobi.

Vegpro by using their trucks, they at least have control over this part of the supply chain. The choice of airline is not arbitrary. As far as the French and British markets are concerned, Vegpro rely heavily on Lufthansa to deliver fresh-to-door cargo. The packhouse is located directly at the international airport of the Kenyan capital.

Its network and quality fully satisfy the requirements, and with Fresh/td by Lufthansa Cargo there is a product that is customised to the needs of perishable goods. Another strong argument is the close cooperation with the Lufthansa Cargo perishable handling team in Frankfurt, which coordinates onward transport like to-door trucking together with the Perishable Centre in Frankfurt. “For us, close contact to our customers is absolutely essential. It means I can count on reliability, which is so important,” Ivo Seehann, Lufthansa Cargo general manager in Nairobi explained.

Vegpro exports 250 tonnes of vegetables as air freight in a high-yielding week. Air freight is indispensable for Kenya’s vegetable exporters — particularly in the case of the products that are cut and packaged in bite-size portions.

A mild climate, fertile land that is what contributes to the excellent growth of vegetables in Kenya. Lufthansa Cargo ensures that the beans, broccoli and courgette from the company’s farms are crisp and fresh when they reach consumers all over the world.


Originally published at www.logupdateafrica.com.

Logistics Update Africa

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Logistics Update Africa (LUA) is a bi monthly trade magazine that brings the most credible news, views and stories of and from Africa.

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