by Manal Barakat, SeaNewsEditor

SeaNews Unboxed is a series of interviews featuring exclusive conversations with experts, bringing you closer to the people behind the world of logistics.

Interview highlights

• The perishables market faced significant challenges this year, including port disruptions, vessel delays, and economic turbulence. Despite these issues, the market remains resilient due to the essential nature of perishable goods.
• Kuehne+Nagel's recent success in starting banana shipments from Colombia, particularly through the challenging Port of Turbo, was a major achievement.
• Marc Meseguer, Global Sea Logistics Reefer Perishables Manager, emphasised the strong personal relationships and trust built with customers, and talked about the emotional moments shared during challenging times.

Full interview

Manal: Let’s start by asking what perishable commodity is most shipped by Kuehne+Nagel?

Marc Meseguer: Bananas are our largest single perishable commodity. We ship significant volumes from Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, and the Philippines. We have bananas everywhere in the world, shipping to many various countries, and they're by far our largest commodity by volume.

Q: Since it is the largest perishable Kuehne+Nagel ships, can we say that it's the most sensitive?

Marc Meseguer: Actually, no. It’s a widespread belief that bananas are very sensitive. Obviously, all our perishable cargo is sensitive, and when we talk about fruits and vegetables, they are living cargo, so they breathe, and therefore, they are sensitive to transit times, temperature deviation, and excursions. But amongst all, bananas are one of the most resilient products. They are very resistant to long distances and temperature deviations, and that makes us stay calm when facing challenges. We could ship bananas with up to 60 days transit time, and they’d still arrive in good shape and condition.

Q: How would you compare them to other, more sensitive perishables?

Marc Meseguer: Other products, such as blueberries, avocados, and mangoes, are much more sensitive, and therefore, the risk of ending the trip in bad condition is much higher. I mean, it's always if you compare it to things, right? Are bananas more sensitive than frozen cargo, for instance? Yes, they are because they are living cargo. They have specific days when you must harvest, transport, and sell the product to consumers. But if you compare bananas to blueberries, then we are pretty relaxed. If we compare them to cherries, for instance, one of the most sensitive products, bananas are easy.

Q: What's a product that people would be surprised to know is a perishable commodity?

Marc Meseguer: I thought a lot about that question. Perishables logistics is very wide, and people are curious about our niche markets. The strangest perishable commodities we ship could be X-ray films for medical use and fresh-cut flowers. Not all flowers are shipped by air; some arrive by sea. But perhaps also one of the strange commodities is live animals shipped in reefers.

Q: Interesting. Live animals like what?

Marc Meseguer: We ship live snails, oysters, mussels, and lobsters from one side of the world to another. We also once shipped bullfrogs from the United States to Asia. These require specific attention, documentation and customs procedures, and they are very challenging because we don't only take care of the product itself to ensure that it reaches the destination alive and fresh, we also need to take care of the product’s living environment. That includes making sure the water they are shipped in does not contain viruses or parasites; that creates a challenge, but it's also very exciting because it keeps us on our toes.

Q: What are the most active trade lanes for this segment at the moment?

Marc Meseguer: We follow the same pattern as the global market. But, when talking about perishables, we need to consider two strong areas: the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. The big flows of cargo always come from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere. That usually takes place from mid-December towards the end of May or mid-June, depending on the year. This includes cargo from Latin America to Northern Europe, to the United States, and to Asia, but also from South Africa and Southeast Asia. South America and Central America represent nearly a third of the total global perishable volume. That's massive. Depending on the season, there are between 3 and 4 million TEU every year.

Q: How have the challenging economic and geopolitical situations around the world impacted the perishables or reefer market this year?

Marc Meseguer: That's a very tough question, actually. It’s been a very tough year for us in terms of market disruption. The market is, however, growing, and especially perishable cargo freight is very resilient to economic crises because, at the end of the day, we are shipping living products, mainly foodstuffs. People might stop buying televisions in an economic crisis, but perishable and prime foodstuffs continue moving. So, when it comes to economic turbulence, this segment does not suffer much. Our challenges are mainly caused by port disruptions. We’re impacted by vessel delays, port omissions, port congestions, etc. These make our logistics very complex. And this year, particularly from the Southern to the Northern Hemispheres, has been one of the toughest.

Q: How does Kuehne+Nagel deal with these challenges while maintaining a strong relationship with customers?

Marc Meseguer: I've been in the business for 15 years, and I am very passionate about my work. At the peak of tough times, when the pressure was too high, we shared tears and emotional moments with our customers. When times get rough, we surf the wave, and we come out of the challenge in very good shape. But it takes a lot of energy to work in this field. For example, vessel disruptions could be detrimental to some types of cargo. Even two days of delays could pose high risks to some customers, so we have a very strict timing. In fact, about 80% of the products we ship are sold during the weekend of that week. So, it is essential to ensure that no cargo is left behind. So yeah, I would say it has been a complex scenario this year. It's very dynamic. We never get bored.

Q: Thank you for sharing this. It gives us a glimpse of the pressure you go through.

Marc Meseguer: It's very challenging, but our team is used to this. We know and understand our customers. Customers also know how tough the situation has been, and they do not expect miracles. The trust and personal relationship we have with our customers is really one of the best things about this business. They're not expecting things to go perfectly. They know that problems happen. Also, some years are tougher than others. The level of disruptions this year was high. I remember around the end of March, we stayed up very late at night to coordinate with South America and woke up very early in the morning to communicate with Asia. But the team was wonderful. Everyone knew what to do, and we managed pretty well to keep our customers’ satisfaction very high.

Q: So, would you say that flexibility is the number one skill one must have in this field?

Marc Meseguer: I tell new colleagues, especially those who want to join the reefer team, that in the perishables sector, you either hate it or you love it. There's no middle ground. It's because you need to have a passion for it. While flexibility is important, the number one skill I think is resilience. We are constantly preparing for the worst because we know that the worst can happen anytime, right? Our strength is not in making things perfect, but in making shipments arrive with as little pain as possible for everyone in the supply chain. There are problems everywhere, and our customers know it. Whether it was carrier issues, port situations or regional challenges, we keep a global mindset. So you surely need to have flexibility, but you also need to think of pressure as a positive thing, not a negative thing. We do hundreds of containers in many countries, right? And the pressure is always there, but we love it. And that's why for us it's not a pain; it's a pleasure.

Q: A recent story about a shipment of cheesecakes handled by one of the major carriers caught attention when the goods were ruined completely during transhipment. How does Kuehne+Nagel handle such cases?

Marc Meseguer: Like our competitors, we receive claims like that, and for us, claim management is a big portion of our job. At first, we need to understand what happened, when it happened, and how it happened. Shipping around the world means that transshipments could occur several times in one shipment. For perishable products, that is sensitive. We recently had one example of a banana shipment reaching the Middle East, and the containers were routed through half the world. It remained at sea for double the planned time. To try to minimise these incidents, you need to understand the parts of the world where cargo would be more vulnerable than others. We sometimes need to educate customers, and even insurance companies, about the specifics of certain goods. For example, let me ask you a question. Have you ever put bananas into your fridge?

Manal: Yes.

Marc Meseguer: What happens to bananas if you put them in the fridge?

Manal: They turn black quickly.

Marc Meseguer: Exactly. This means that bananas have suffered what we call a ‘chilling injury’. A chilling injury is an illness that affects living products when they’re kept below their usual temperature range and become unable to carry out their normal metabolic processes. Basically, the banana becomes a zombie banana. They are not going to ripen or taste sweet anymore. You’re essentially killing them. On the other side, if you don't put them outside the fridge, they ripen very quickly, right? Bananas need to be stored at a temperature of around 13 degrees Celsius. That’s why it's important to understand the goods we ship, and based on that, we know when to accept claims or not.

Q: That's very interesting, thank you. Kuehne+Nagel started moving bananas from Colombia this year. Can you share with us a recent success story your team is particularly proud of?

Marc Meseguer: Yes. We started this year in Colombia. I'm very happy and excited because it took us a long time to start bananas in Colombia, one of the main hubs where bananas are produced worldwide. For us, Colombia has been a very tough country; we’re working with a diverse portfolio of products. Bananas, however, make up our core business in Colombia. I have to say the team did a fantastic job! We're very happy and extremely excited about what lies ahead for us because we entered operations in Turbo Port for the first time.

Q: What’s special about Turbo Port?

Marc Meseguer: Now, Turbo might not seem like a major port globally, but it’s very important for the banana business. Turbo is a very special operation. We call it a port, but actually it's a terminal where containers are stored, and it has 95% perishable cargo, mainly bananas. Turbo is in the Antioquia region in the Gulf of Urabá, near the Panamanian border, but within Colombia. This is one of the largest banana areas in the world, and the operation is carried out by barge, so the container is moved from the main vessel to the barge by cranes in open sea. So, the goods are subject to weather issues, sea issues and productivity because obviously it's a very delicate type of operation. Turbo is also to some extent monopolised by a few players.

Although we were reluctant at first, I had no doubt that the team would do fantastically. During my last trip, we had the pleasure of meeting the largest banana customers, shippers, and producers of bananas. And the feedback received was amazing! They wanted to ship twice the volume with us and recommend us to other customers. And I'm looking forward to the next season of negotiations to really bring more value. This is one of the greatest stories that we've had lately.

Q: That's very refreshing to hear. There is nothing better than closing with a success story. Thank you for sharing it. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

Marc Meseguer: I want to highlight the team's amazing spirit and outstanding work. I'm absolutely proud of all of them, and I enjoy working with them and seeing them during my visits to the countries. Bringing these connections closer is what really makes the difference.

Manal: Thank you very much for this inspiring talk.