It seems counter-intuitive: How can installing massive industrial chillers and running fleets of diesel-powered refrigerated trucks be a “green” intervention? Refrigeration, after all, consumes energy and utilizes refrigerants that are often potent greenhouse gases. According EastFruit, a superficial analysis might suggest that the “greenest” supply chain is a passive one. However, this view ignores the greatest villain in the produce sector: Methane.
Andriy Yarmak, FAO Economist and team leader of experts working on the Horticultural component of the joined FAO/EBRD Agri-food Climate and Environmental Sustainability (ACES) Initiative, explains: “When fruits and vegetables rot, they don’t just disappear, they decompose, releasing methane, a greenhouse gas significantly more potent than CO₂. In a standard supply chain without a robust cold chain, spoilage rates run between 20% and 40%, depending on the market. Our comprehensive analysis of a 110,000-tonne retail volume in one of the Central Asian countries revealed that investing $12.5 million in a modern cold chain reduces this spoilage by 2 to 5 percentage points, making a huge difference in emissions and economics”.
The math is compelling. The energy required to cool the produce adds approximately 1.5 to 1.8 kilotonnes of CO₂e per year. However, the food waste prevented by that cooling avoids anywhere from 1.1 to 6.6 kilotonnes of CO₂e annually. In almost every scenario, the emissions saved by keeping food edible outweigh the emissions generated by keeping it cold. Furthermore, as grids decarbonize and logistics hubs adopt solar power, the “cost” of cooling drops, while the “savings” from avoided waste remain constant. The cold chain is not an environmental burden; it is a net-positive preservation technology that is essential for food security and climate mitigation.
Also read: Development of Fruit and Vegetable trade in Uzbekistan leads to growing CO₂ emissions
If you think that the investments into the cold chain are too high, think twice. Just direct savings in produce are up to $6mn per year, if we consider average price of fresh produce in the store. However, since the most expensive items are usually the most perishable ones, we are probably going to see higher savings in real life. But that’s not all – better quality produce will attract wealthier consumers, reduce the time produce spends at the shelves and will increase the total revenue of the store, reducing the spoilage even more! Team estimates that additional sales could reach at least $10mn per year across all departments.
“There are many other small technological elements, which could help reduce the spoilage, such as MCP-1 applications for storable produce or transformation to the pooling system of foldable crates, or development of centralized distribution system for retail trade (DC)” adds Andriy Yarmak. Thus, opportunities are there – we just need to see them and change the way things have been traditionally done.
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