A new project under the Fight Food Waste CRC, involving grower cooperative Pacific Coast Produce and the Queensland Government Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF) with support from the Australian Food Cold Chain Council (AFCCC), will monitor the handling and in-transit conditions of exported organic and Ecoganic™ Cavendish banana with a view to reducing food loss en route and ensuring fruit delivered is of reliable quality.
Currently, there’s no temperature monitoring of export shipments, making it impossible for supply chain partners to identify when, where and how loss of fruit quality occurs. The variable quality of Australian organic bananas on delivery limits future growth of export markets for this produce.
The project will monitor the existing export supply chain for Pacific Coast Produce’s bananas, suggest improved practices and develop a decision support tool to reduce waste in banana supply chains, domestic and export.
For further information about the project, visit the Fight Food Waste CRC website.
Source: New project puts supply chain in spotlight I Fight Food Waste CRC/Australian Banana Magazine